The 1962 Playboy Townhouse

"Posh Plans For Exciting Urban Living"! In a spread from the May 1962 issue of Playboy Magazine we catch a glimpse of a "modishly swinging manor for the modern man" — a three level dream-pad decked out in teak, where everything is controlled by remote. Step inside this impeccable (and surprisingly voguish) space to experience the fine art of leisurely living.

Though drafted in 1962 by architect-designer R. Donald Jaye for the “unattached, affluent young man happily wedded to the infinite advantages of urbia,” the sleek lines of this extravagant home appear remarkably modern. Placed on a 25-foot wide city lot, the townhouse is divided into three parts and centered around a full-sized, indoor swimming pool with a giant field stone wall stretching three stories up to a remote controlled sliding skylight. We were pleased to see some furniture favorites we’d happily welcome into our own home today — like the three legged Laverne chair, George Nelson bubble lamps, and plenty of good ole’ Knoll and Herman Miller.

The accompanying article reads as a "one-girl tour" of the swinging bachelor pad and begins the moment you park your Gran Turismo coupe in the two-car garage. From there you sweep your lady friend through the teak entry way and show off every inch of the home's lavish offerings. With stops along the way to select an LP-tape from the automatic push button catalogue and sit at the 12 foot upholstered bar to sip frostily chilled martinis (most likely set out by the help who have quickly scurried back to their private quarters), the tour finishes with a demonstration of the patented Playboy Rotating Bed, which is…you guessed it…remote controlled.

Click here to view the Playboy Townhouse (originally scanned by Meathaus) in all its high-res glory, and special thanks to AndDouglasSays (a darling of our Tumblr dashboard) for this gem of a link.

Images: Playboy Magazine, May 1962

Comments (20)

There are many aspects of this "pad" that would definitely work today. Does anyone else think of Austin Powers with that bed?

I know a lot of people who would kill for a room like #5.

Totally tacky.

I'd love a house like that!

Did anyone else notice how closely that Dunbar sofa resembles the Hutton Sofa from Room & Board?

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=19348&catalog=filter&menuCatalog=room&menuSubcategory=201198

I love it. Update the color scheme, lose the wood paneling and weird ceiling, and this would be awesome.

Some of those furniture prices must have seemed astronomical in 1962.

HAH! Complete with CHESSBOARD?!

"Some of those furniture prices must have seemed astronomical in 1962."

Indeed - Considering that a brand-new 1962 Ford Falcon could be had for little more than $2000...
...that Dunbar sofa was the equivalent of a $10,000 sofa today.

I love this. I adore the 60's!

Does the circle bed help with manly fantasies? Is that why that exists? Because I mean, without the bed, this lot wouldn't feel as tacky. Chairs are cool.

I like the fact that the drawing scans all show the centre fold.

Ah, that we could buy Saarinen end tables for $65 and $97 today....

Yeah, possibly aside from the round bed (where would you get sheets?!??), I'd totally go for that house. And I'm a girl.

Very groovy! I could totally live there!

I like the sky light ceiling. With a round bed who needs a table & chairs in every room?

Just kidding.

Ummm....guess the guy doesn't make his own bed....round sheets are a nightmare, even us girls would hate it. Slept on one once in a round hotel cabin on stilts on an island in Cochin, India. Highly over-rated for sleep AND the other thing!. Also, is it just me, or is the tv on the ceiling BEHIND the bed? Sit in the single chair to watch?? Girl sits on bachelor's lap?? There's a Playboy move for ya.

@artfemme11

Because the Playboy Rotating Bed rotates to face any direction?

Looks like the Jetson's meet Hugh Hefner. Frank, Dino and the rest of the rat pack would feel very much at home here. Love it!

Those renderings are to die for. Nobody can come anywhere close to those today, even with all the computer graphics we have available.

The last paragraph should say "in all ITS high-res glory", not "IT'S"...I know this is a "design site" but grammar and spelling still count, on all kinds of sites.

How interesting that the ever-so-macho playboy has a vanity and stool in the bathroom complete with a large mirror. He sits down to do his facial grooming? Or is that for all of his conquests to use? (Playboy is and always has been painfully archaic.)