It seems that there is some hot activity in the Chicago Playboy Mansion once again – except this time it’s the real estate that’s hot. The original home of Hugh Hefner at 1340 N State Parkway in Chicago’s Near North Side featured classic French architecture designed by architect James Gamble Rogers in 1899 and was constructed of brick and limestone, with 70 rooms. It’s most famous feature (other than the inhabitants) was the brass door plate with the Latin inscription Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnarel, which means “If you don’t swing, don’t ring”.
Hugh Hefner abandoned the mansion in 1974 for the Playboy Mansion West and donated it to the Art Institute of Chicago, which made perfect sense given Hef’s highly refined appreciation of art. In 1993 the building was converted into 7 condominiums. Unit 2 in the Playboy Mansion, which occupies an entire floor at 7900 square feet, just closed on Tuesday at $5.2 MM – $600K off the $5.8 MM list price and the 4th most expensive condo transaction to close in Chicago during the last 12 months. It went under contract in only 8 months after only 2 price reductions – not bad for a listing at that price. The original list price was $6.7 MM. Oh…and it was a cash transaction.
But on that same day unit 1N in the Playboy Mansion went under contract after being on the market for only 8 days. At 3250 square feet it must be a half floor. It was listed at $2.3 MM, $185K under the June 2007 purchase price. Here are some stats on that unit along with the listing description:
- 7 rooms total
- 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths
- 1 fireplace
- 2 garage spaces
- $1516 monthly assessment which includes virtually nothing
- $26,483 annual property taxes – the city of Chicago has it valued at just under $1.7 MM. We’ll see.
This elegantly appointed residence at The Playboy Mansion has been redone with the highest level of finishes. Kitchen has custom Grabill cabinetry, subzero refrigerator, full size wine refrigerator & butlers’ pantry/bar area. Large patio off kitchen & family room is perfect for entertaining/dogs. 3rd bedroom is currently a richly paneled library. 2 garage spaces.
It’s not clear if the upgrades were done by the current owner but the description reads as if that is the case. If true then the current owners really got what the Playboy Mansion was famous for. It’s also not clear why anyone would want to entertain dogs there but you know how people can be with their pets.
Check out this photo gallery of the unit: