I mentioned briefly before that Hugh Hefner and his wife Kimberley sold her house next to the Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, California but I neglected to mention the fact that is sold for $10 million below the list price of $27.995 million. The LA Times Hot Property column reported that the home, which hit the market in March, sold for $18 million. The 7,300-square-foot English Manor-style house was built in 1929 and has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home is behind private gates on 2.3 flat acres that back up to the Los Angeles Country Club and the grounds include a swimming pool.

The Hefners bought the home in 1996 for Kimberley Hefner to live in with their two sons. It was then listed then at $17.25 million so if Hefner bought anywhere close to list price back then he isn't making too much on this deal. But the aging magazine tycoon's lavish lifestyle has been straining the budget of the Playboy empire and so the sale might have been a matter of some urgency.

[Thanks, Charles! via Listed]

From the Real Estalker:
--Brian Austin Green has listed his four-bedroom Tudor style home in Los Angeles, shown above, for $2.395 million. The listing is here.
--The estate of Jimmy Durante has put his three-bedroom home in Beverly Hills on the market for $3.395 million. The listing is here.
--Hard Rock Cafe heir Harry Morton has listed his two-bedroom unit in West Hollywood's Sierra Towers for $2.895 million. He paid $3.5 million back in 2007. The listing is here.
--LeVar Burton has listed his home in Sherman Oaks, California for $1.85 million.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--The Gosselins have dropped the price of their former home in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania from $325.000 to $315,000. You can check out pictures here.
--A two-bedroom house in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills area that Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses once owned has been listed for $1.25 million. The listing is here.
--"Weeds" creator Jenji Kohan has placed her three-bedroom home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles on the market for $1.597 million. The listing is here.
--Actress Parminder Nagra has put her four-bedroom home in Los Angeles' Los Feliz area back on the market for $1.375 million. The listing is here.
--Olympic gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg has sold his home in the Hollywood Hills for $3.575 million.
Justin Long has re-listed his two-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.245 million. The listing is here.
--Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's Holmby Hills mansion next to the Playboy mansion which was listed at $27.995 million is now listed as "looking for backup."


From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Michael Lemos, the son of a Greek shipping tycoon, is raising the price of his apartment at 2 East 67th Street again. It went on the market for $34.9 million in May 2008, was increased to $39.5 million last July, is now listed for $45 million.
--via Curbed, Och-Ziff chief financial officer Joel Frank and his wife Lynn paid $9.4 million for a third-floor condo at 15 Central Park West last October. But now they're buying an apartment downtown, too, a 1,200-square-foot pad at 99 Jane Street for $1.5 million.
--David Schrader, a former senior managing director at Bear Stearns, has sold his 12th-floor apartment at 30 Fifth Avenue for $1.95 million.
--via New York Daily News, disgraced lawyer Marc Dreier's condo at One Beacon Court sold at auction for $8.2 million after 45 people placed bids on the 3,000-square-foot pad. The buyer is Ajit Jain, a protégé of Warren Buffet and the head of Berkshire Hathaway's reinsurance group.
--David Salomon, co-founder of California-based Financial Asset Trading & Technology, and his wife Joanne, have picked up a condo at 530 West End Avenue for $3 million.
via the Real Deal, the Broome Street building where Heath Ledger died in 2008 has changed hands. The property's lender, Donald Burns of Palm Beach Mortgage Management, paid $15 million for the building.
--Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman has paid $2.65 million for an apartment on the second floor of 79 East 2nd Street.


From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Art dealer W. Graham Arader III has taken his mansion at 1016 Madison Avenue off the market. We checked it out in 2007 when it was listed at $75 million.
--Attorney James Triedman paid $3.65 million for a three-bedroom co-op at 14 East 90th Street which was listed at $4.25 million.
--Investment strategist Jason Trennert paid $3.25 million for nine-room co-op at 22 East 88th Street which was listed at $4.695 million.
Artist Richard Prince has paid $11.5 million for a townhouse located at 57 East 78th Street.
--Mediabistro founder Laurel Touby has paid $3.905 million for a penthouse at 43 East 19th Street.
--Former Bear Stearns executive Alex Reyfman has sold his co-op at 245 West 107th Street for $1.555 million to William Ulfelder, director of the Nature Conservancy of New York.


From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--The Jonas Brothers may be close to buying a mansion in Alpine, New Jersey. The approximately 8,000-square-foot home is a five-bedroom Colonial is in the $10 million price range.
--Lorraine Bracco has found a buyer for her Hudson River hideaway in Trey Anastasio, the lead singer/guitarist of Phish. He is in contract to buy her cottage for around $2 million. We checked out this home in 2007 when it was listed at $3.2 million.
--Real estate investor Gerhard Andlinger is in contract to buy a 1920s home on Sherwood Avenue in Greenwich, Connecticut. It has been quietly been on the market since April at around $19.5 million.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--A Los Feliz home owned by singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder has sold for $2.407 million.
--Singer and actor Frankie Avalon has sold his golf course retreat in La Quinta for $955,000.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Mickey Rourke has rented a loft in Manhattan's meatpacking district for $19,800 per month which is less than half what the apartment rented for just four months ago.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--Attorney Bruce A. Blakeman whose ex-wife Nancy Shevell, is currently dating Paul McCartney has purchased a six-bedroom, four-bath home in Water Mill, New York for $2 million.

In September, Taschen will publish Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's illustrated biography in six volumes, combined with a chronological selection of highlights from the seminal men's magazine's first 25 years (1953 to 1979). Limited to 1,500 numbered and signed copies, the six-volume set comes packaged in a luxurious plexiglass box and costs $1,300. Beginning with Hef's youth and his boyhood comic collection and ending with the height of Playboy's success, the anthology is billed as "the most probing and intimate portrait of Hefner ever made."

Hefner's extensive participation and the inclusion of a wealth of memorabilia from his personal scrapbooks set this anthology apart from other Playboy books. The six volumes contain over 700 pages of autobiographical text about Hef's youth, army days, first attempts as a cartoonist, early career, girlfriends, and Playboy's launch, illustrated by original Hefner artwork and cartoons, correspondence, and a huge selection of archival photos, many previously unpublished.

A pair of ultra-luxurious Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman limousines from 1969 and 1971 that belonged to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner are being offered for sale by a collector in New Zealand. Hef ordered the 21-ft. long limos with the rare 6-door configuration, of which only 140 were built, new from the Mercedes factory in Stuttgart. The 600 Pullman, last of the hand-built Mercedes models, was the transport of choice for VIPs including the Pope, Coco Chanel, John Lennon, Jack Nicholson, Aristotle Onassis, and Elvis Presley, among others.

Both cars are painted black and feature forward facing seats at the center doors, a hydraulically operated reclining seat at the rear, curtains in the rear compartment, tinted glass, a soundproof glass center division with an intercom system for communicating with the chauffeur, and tons of chrome and wood paneling. The 1969 model is finished in black leather and features a refrigerated bar cabinet, while the 1971 has red leather and a built-in television. Both mint condition cars are priced at about $165,000.

[via JamesList]

Can Richard Branson be the new Hugh Hefner? Rumors are flying that the VIrgin Media tycoon is interested in the Playboy empire. The company has been allegedly shopped around for $300 million even though the market value is perceived to less than $100 million. Part of the reason for wide difference in figures is because the company wants to make sure that any deal will help Playboy's 83-year-old founder maintain his lavish lifestyle. Although one of Hugh Hefner's homes is on the market for nearly $28 million there is still main Playboy mansion and its tremendous upkeep to consider. He remains the editor of Playboy magazine and has said he wants to pass down his interest in the company to his teenage sons Marston and Cooper.

While Hefner's lifestyle has burdened the company his public recognition has also been a major part of keeping interest in Playboy Enterprises. The good thing about Branson in charge versus some faceless equity company is that you would have another charismatic man at the helm. Branson also excels at using his lifestyle and his appearances to further his businesses and he also has a wide variety of businesses which could partner with Playboy.

UPDATE: Looks like the Playboy/Virgin empire will forever exist only in our minds.

It's not the Playboy mansion but if you've ever wanted to live next door to the girls next door this is your chance. Hugh Hefner and wife Kimberley (yep, he's still technically married but they have been separated for ten years) have listed the home next door to the mansion. This is where Kimberley has raised their two children who are now in their late teens.

The seven-bedroom home is on a two-acre walled property that is also adjacent to the Los Angeles Country Club. The estate was built in 1929 and has expansive lawns and a pool. The listing doesn't offer a single interior picture (it's rather a stalker's view of the home) but the listing says there is a two-story entry, paneled study, family room and a master bedroom suite with a marble bath and a separate dressing room.

The Real Estalker reports that the Hefners bought the home in 1996 for around $6.7 million from the estate of TV Guide heiress turned philanthropist Lita Annenberg. The question of why the Hefners are selling is up for debate. The party line per the LA Times Hot Property column is that the young Hefner boys are going off to college and the house is too big. But with all the stories of trouble in the Playboy empire and rumors of a potential sale it's likely Hefner has been told to lighten his financial load. The question is whether or not at $27.995 million there is anyone willing to snap up the ivy-covered mansion.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Right on time for holiday giving, Playboy has come out with a line of wines. The wines are available by bottle or by a yearly subscription for $1,567 and include a limited run of up to 550 bottles per series; vineyards include Gargiulo Money Road Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Supery's famed Dollarhide Cabernet Sauvignon, Schug Estate Heritage Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, RODA Cirsiron and Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno. And of course, since it's Playboy, each wine is labeled with a vintage Playboy cover which represents the flavor and taste profile of each wine.

The wines are available online but will also be sold at wine retailers in the United States. The wines will retail individually at $90 to $380 a bottle. Check out the first offerings in the gallery below.

[via Avenue Vine]

Not many coffee table books come with their own briefcase but this one is no ordinary book. It is 720 pages that includes every centerfold from every issue of Playboy. The book includes over 600 Playmates offering a unique look at how standards of female attractiveness have varied over the decades. The black leather briefcase is lined in red velvet and has combination locks. It sells for $315.

[via Acquire]

Some art you buy for its beauty, some art you buy for investment and some you buy for a certain sense of nostalgia. This one, the first illustration from the first Playboy magazine, definitely falls into the third category. The first Playboy cartoon in 1953 by Ben Denison, marks the start of a tradition that has gone on to include artists such as Eldon Dedini, Jules Feiffer, Shel Silverstein and Gahan Wilson, It is being auctioned off by Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas on December 12. The gouache on illustration board measures approximately 11" x 8-1/2" and is estimated to sell for $12,000 - $18,000.

They were all the range in the 1960s, now the Playboy Club is back and will be open for business as of this Friday, October 6. The Playboy Club is located at the top of The Palms new Fantasy Tower in Las Vegas and is connected via glass enclosed escalators to the new restaurant Nove Italiano, and Moon nightclub. The new version of the Playboy Club still has Playboy Bunnies only now they wear a costume created by Roberto Cavalli. The club features gaming, food and beverages and 60 plasma screens show Playboy videos. In addition to the club there is also the 9,000-square-foot Hugh Hefner Sky Villa. The suite has floor-to-ceiling glass walls with views of the Las Vegas Strip, a collection of Playboy artwork selected by Hugh M. Hefner, an indoor waterfall and reflection pool, personal glass elevator, private outdoor cantilevered Jacuzzi, a gym with sauna, full bar, media room, glass end walls and Playboy Rabbit Head logo, and a replica of the classic rotating circular bed that has been a mainstay in Mr. Hefner's bedroom for decades. The amazing suite cost $10 million to build and rents for $40,000 per night.

If you are somewhere where the weather isn't going to be kind this weekend, why not cozy up to a roaring fire with a good book and some nice slippers on your feet. Now, not just any slippers will do, they must be these velvet "evening shoes". If you always wanted the Hugh Hefner look and were to afraid take the plunge, here's your chance to live vicariously through your shoes. Resplendent in black velvet and blue satin, these "evening shoes" feature handcrafted gold embroidery of an elephant, (sorry, no donkeys available for the Democrats.) These "evening shoes" are best paired with a silk robe and brandy sniffer. Head over to Vivre to get a pair for $225.