The Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, home to the late Hugh Hefner, was world-famous for its legendary parties and playmates.
But the palatial estate was also the scene of controversy when it found itself at the centre of the Bill Cosby rape scandal which ended in a mistrial and suffered a disease outbreak in the hot tub.
Built in 1927 and bought by Hefner for $1 million in 1971, the property was emblematic of Hollywood’s excess, hosting its infamous pool parties with a lingerie-only dress code for the female guests who cavorted in the caved grotto.
The Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, home to the late Hugh Hefner, was world-famous for its legendary parties and playmates
Built in 1927 and bought by Hefner for $1 million in 1971, the property was emblematic of Hollywood’s excess, hosting its infamous pool parties with a lingerie-only dress code for the female guests who cavorted in the caved grotto. Pictured, a wood-panneled drawing room at the property
Donald Trump even filmed an episode of The Apprenctice at the mansion where contestants got to meet Hefner and his girlfriends. Pictured, a games room at the Beverley Hills house
Last year, the legendary party house was sold for $100 million to the billionaire Twinkies owner who lives next door but Hefner was allowed to continue living there for the rest of his life
The buyer was Daren Metropoulos, a 32-year-old business tycoon who lives on the property next door to the mansion, which he bought from Hefner in 2009 for $18 million
Elvis reportedly slept with eight Playmates at once at the 12-bedroom stately home, while John Lennon once burned a Matisse original with a cigarette.
Donald Trump even filmed an episode of The Apprenctice at the mansion where contestants got to meet Hefner and his girlfriends.
Last year, the legendary party house was sold for $100 million to the billionaire Twinkies owner who lives next door but Hefner was allowed to continue living there for the rest of his life.
The buyer was Daren Metropoulos, a 32-year-old business tycoon who lives on the property next door to the mansion, which he bought from Hefner in 2009 for $18 million.
Hefner’s movie theater, where he is known to hold weekly screenings of films from his large collection
A view of the notorious grotto in the Mansion’s swimming pool, which houses a caved whirpool hot tub
But the palatial estate was also the scene of controversy when it found itself at the centre of the Bill Cosby rape scandal and suffered a disease outbreak in the hot tub. Pictured, Hugh Hefner’s annual Midsummer Night’s Dream party held at the Playboy Mansion on August 3, 2013
Pictured, Bill Cosby and Hugh Hefner attend the 33rd Annual Playboy Jazz Festival at the Playboy Mansion in 2011
Last year, the legendary party house was sold for $100 million to the billionaire Twinkies owner who lives next door but Hefner was allowed to continue living there for the rest of his life
Metropoulos is a principal at private-equity firm Metropoulos and Co., which co-owns Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies, an iconic American snack.
He intends to connect the two estates into a combined 7.3-acre compound once Hefner dies, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Metropoulos said the mansion’s heritage ‘transcends its celebrity’ and that ‘to have the opportunity to serve as its steward would be a true privilege.’
The mansion also has a sinister past after getting caught up in the Bill Cosby sex abuse allegations.
Two weeks after a mistrial was declared in Cosby’s criminal case in Pennsylvania for the 2004 rape of Andrea Constand, a California judge put a trial date on the calendar for an alleged assault by Cosby at the Playboy Mansion more than 42 years ago, according to Deadline.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Kaplan set July 30, 2018 as the start date for Judy Huth’s civil case. Although the state’s former statute of limitations had passed on Huth’s claims of being sexually attacked at the age 15 by Cosby in 1974 at Hugh Hefner’s home, she was still able to file in 2014 because she was a minor at the time of the alleged incident.
Elvis reportedly slept with eight Playmates at once at the 12-bedroom stately home, while John Lennon once burned a Matisse original with a cigarette
In addition to its own parties, the Playboy Mansion is frequently rented out for movie screenings, corporate parties and charity events. Pictured is the cocktail hour during an advanced screening of The Entourage Movie in May 2015
The front lawn of the legendary mansion during the 2013 Playboy Playmate of the Year reception
The mansion (pictured) also has a sinister past after getting caught up in the Bill Cosby sex abuse allegations
And according to people who stayed in the mansion the home could do with some updating. Pictured, a dining room at the property
And in January 2016, another woman who accused Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her at the Playboy Mansion vowed to continue his fight against him – despite city criminal charges being ruled out.
The comedian was told that he would not be prosecuted in Los Angeles for the alleged assault on Chloe Goins in 2008.
She told Daily Mail Online she was ‘devastated’ – but determined to fight him in court, saying: ‘I’ve not given up yet.’
In another scandal in 2011, health officials confirmed that the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease was found in a whirlpool spa at the Playboy Mansion where more than 100 people fell ill.
The Los Angeles County Health Department presented its findings at an annual conference at the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta.
The legionella bacteria also causes a milder illness called Pontiac fever. Symptoms, which include fever and headache, are the same as those suffered by the Playboy Mansion partygoers.
The people who fell ill were at the mansion to mark the end of the three-day DOMAINFest Global Conference on internet business.
Metropoulos is a principal at private-equity firm Metropoulos and Co., which co-owns Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies, an iconic American snack. Pictured, models perform during the annual Midsummer Night’s Dream Party at the Playboy Mansion hosted by Hugh Hefner in 2015
The Playboy Mansion is one of the only properties in the country with its own zoo licenses and is known for the Hef’s peacocks roaming the grounds
The conference took place at the Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica. On the second night, there was a party at the Sky Bar on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. The finale on the third night was at Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s famous mansion.
Within 48 hours after leaving it, scores of people reported coming down with symptoms including fever, respiratory problems and violent headaches.
And according to people who stayed in the mansion the home could do with some updating.
British glamour model Carla Howe, 25, revealed the Playboy Mansion’s glory days are long gone and visitors are more likely to see nurses instead of lingerie-clad beauties wandering the grounds.
As the magazine announced that it was barring naked women from its pages, Carla, from Slough, told The Sun that Hugh Hefner’s home is taking a similar turn for the modest and is more like a retirement home than a pleasure palace.
She added that the mansion itself is beginning to look tired: ‘He almost never leaves home and refuses to change anything in the mansion the whole place feels like it’s stuck in the 1980s.’
The Berkshire-born beauty describes the residence as looking and feeling worn-out, with old phones that hang on the walls, bedrooms that smell damp and feel ‘cold and unused’.