10 Shocking facts about the Playboy Mansion (With Pictures)

7. The mansion was formerly owned by a Chessmaster

Hef and Playboy bought the iconic Los Angeles mansion in 1971, and Playboy has done some renovations over the years, but the property was originally built in 1927. So who walked those walls before the bevy of bunnies? Louis D. Statham, a gentleman who was both an engineer and a world-renowned chess player. Apparently, Statham’s inventions included devises that were implemented in NASA spacecraft navigation. With a property that size, he would have had more than enough rooms to set up workshops to fiddle with whatever engineering ideas he had. Sounds like things were a little bit more cerebral pre-1971.

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