Marketing is everything when it comes to sales. The listing agents behind the Playboy Mansion — Gary Gold and Mauricio Umansky — have the benefit of a very well-known brand and name behind the property, which recently went up for sale with a $200 million asking price.
But recent press about the condition of the mansion has been less-than-glowing. A 2013 Vice article describing the property as “kinda depressing” has been on the front page of Google results for the “Playboy Mansion” search term for months, and with Playboy’s announcement that it would no longer be publishing nude women in magazines, the question of whether the company is still relevant in the digital age is being widely debated in the publishing community.
Add that to a contingency that the mansion’s current owner, the illustrious Hugh Hefner, be allowed to continue to occupy the property until his death, and the sale could get even tougher. Hef might be in his late 80s, but it’s also safe to assume he’s received top-notch medical care for most of his life. He could be kicking around for another five to ten years, or possibly even longer than that.
Well, the infamous “they” say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s the case, then these press-ready photos that Gold and Umansky shared with Inman should be getting Hef a lot closer to that coveted $200 million price tag. The mansion looks just as stately as it did when it was first built in 1927.
The last remodel on this seven-bedroom, 14,000-plus-square-foot dwelling was completed in 1947, according to public records.
The most likely buyer? My guess is either a history buff, especially someone interested in the history of publishing — or a startup tech wizard who’s got fond memories of the magazine.
