The famed Los Angeles mansion of Hugh Hefner, founder of the Playboy empire, is under contract to be sold to private equity executive, Daren Metropoulos, Hefner’s next-door neighbour, a Playboy Enterprises spokesman said.

Playboy memorabilia, including a topless photograph of Marilyn Monroe, was going on sale today at an auction coinciding with the 50th birthday of the men’s magazine.