Los Angeles City Council Refuses to Demolish Marilyn Monroe's House

The decision comes after a months-long dispute between the council and the owners of Marilyn Monroe’s former home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood. According to The Los Angeles Times , the couple next door, Roy Bank and Brinah Milstein, bought the property in July 2023 for $8.35 million with plans to demolish the house to expand their property.

Main gate of the house once owned by Marilyn Monroe

The couple received a demolition permit shortly thereafter, but last year Councilwoman Traci Park filed a motion to preserve the house, which received approval from the Cultural Heritage Commission, Planning and Land Use Control Commission, The Los Angeles Times reported.

"There is no other person or place in the city of Los Angeles as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and her Brentwood home," Park said before the council vote on June 26. "To lose this historic piece of land, the only home Monroe ever owned, would be a devastating blow to cultural preservation."

Marilyn Monroe in the movie The Misfits (1961)

Marilyn Monroe bought this Spanish Colonial-style home in 1962 for $75,000. It was the only residence she ever owned before her death six months later (from a drug overdose).

According to The Los Angeles Times , Bank and Milstein sued the city in May 2024 for unconstitutionally preserving the home that was once the property of Marilyn Monroe. A judge denied their request to halt the historic designation, and a hearing on the pending lawsuit is scheduled for August 13.

The house was purchased by the couple Roy Bank and Brinah Milstein in July 2023 for more than $8.3 million.

Marilyn Monroe, known as the "blonde bombshell", became one of the most famous sex stars of the 1950s and 1960s. She was the highest-paid actress for a decade, with her films grossing $200 million (equivalent to $2.5 billion today). Marilyn died in 1962 at the age of 36. Long after her death, she remained a major icon of popular culture. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Marilyn Monroe sixth on its list of Hollywood's greatest female screen stars.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoi-dong-thanh-pho-los-angeles-khong-cho-pha-do-nha-cua-marilyn-monroe-185240627085153882.htm