Playboy Mansion Proposed As Historical-Cultural Monument

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills is being considered for historical-cultural monument designation by the Los Angeles City Council.

A motion was introduced Tuesday seeking the designation for the iconic property, which was owned by Playboy Enterprises from 1971 until last year.

The magazine empire's founder and owner, Hugh Hefner, lived at the Playboy Mansion until his death on Sept. 27.

The property has become a legend in Hollywood as the scene of luxurious parties and a celebrity hangout.

The Playboy Mansion was sold last year to billionaire businessman and next-door neighbor Daren Metropoulos for a tidy $100 million. The deal allowed Hefner to live there until his death.

Metropoulos, 33, said after the sale that he plans to connect his estate and the Playboy Mansion, "ultimately returning the combined 7.3-acre compound to the original vision executed by architect Arthur R. Kelly and its first owner, Arthur Letts Jr., the department store heir whose father conceived and developed Holmby Hills when it was the Wolfskill Ranch."

A designation as a historic-cultural monument would put limits on what alterations could be made to the property. It would also prevent the mansion from being demolished without review.

The 20,000-square-foot mansion was built in 1927 and would first have to be recommended for monument status by the Cultural Heritage Commission and the Planning and Land Use Management Committee before coming to the full City Council for approval.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)