Victor Lownes - Move To The UK

Move To The UK

In 1963 Victor Lownes became restless and asked Hefner to be sent to London to open a British Playboy club. He placed an advertisement in The Times' personal columns that read: "American millionaire seeks a flat in the most fashionable part of London. Rents up to £100 a week." He found a house at 3 Montpellier Square, opposite Harrods which he rented for 75 guineas a week. He spent months in London working out how and where to open a club.

Gambling had recently been legalised in the UK and Lownes realized there was an opportunity to add the attraction of a casino to the nightclub. A Playboy Club was opened in the heart of the capital, at 45 Park Lane overlooking Hyde Park, on July 1, 1966 and was an immediate success. It was nicknamed the 'Hutch on the Park.'

'UK One', as Lownes became known, slid easily into the feverish atmosphere of 'Swinging London'. Regular parties were thrown at his house and the 1960s A-List went, the same cast list that played the tables at the club including the Beatles, George Best, Warren Beatty, Michael Caine, Judy Garland, Sean Connery, Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate.

He later moved to 1 Connaught Street in 1967 which had previously been the London residence of Mary Augusta Ward, a novelist of the late 19th and early 20th century. A massive Francis Bacon painting he acquired during this time was so hideous that it was exiled to hanging in the hall. A grandfather clock in the property was painted by Timothy Leary.