Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood house saved from demolition after being declared landmark
Late Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe’s home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, has been approved as a historical cultural monument by the Los Angeles City Council, a designation that is intended to help protect the landmark from demolition.
The Los Angeles Conservancy took to X and wrote: “The Marilyn Monroe Residence in Brentwood is now a Historic-Cultural Monument! Today, L.A. City Council unanimously approved the nomination for Marilyn Monroe’s final home. Thanks to all who voiced their support, and a HUGE thanks to Councilwoman Traci Park and team!”
Monroe, known for her “blonde bombshell” roles, lived in the 1929 four-bedroom Spanish Colonial-style house for approximately six months before she died there of a reported overdose in 1962.
The L.A. Conservancy’s proposal for landmark status noted that the house was “the first place she sought out and bought for herself and on her own while actively working in 1962,” reports Variety.com.
Owners Brinah Milstein and her husband, reality TV producer Roy Bank, purchased the house in 2023 for $8.35 million and planned to demolish it to expand their property next door.
They waged a year-long battle to stop the historical designation, which they said would lead to more nuisance visitors.
The owners have sued the city, accusing officials of “backroom machinations,” and the case is due to get a trial date on August 13.
In the suit, the owners said that the home has been substantially altered and that no evidence remains from Monroe’s time there, thus contending that it does not meet the criteria for a historic cultural monument. They also noted that several neighbourhood groups and the Monroe estate did not support the historic designation.
Despite the opposition, the council’s vote was 12 to 0 in favor of adding the house to the list of properties of historical significance. The decision was supported by the City Council’s land use management subcommittee and the Cultural Heritage Commission.
While the designation doesn’t completely prevent a property from being demolished, it subjects it to a stringent review process if demolition is proposed.
Ahead of the vote, L.A. City Council member Traci Park said: “We have an opportunity to do something today that should’ve been done 60 years ago. There’s no other person or place in the city of Los Angeles as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and her Brentwood home.”