American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962) poses outside her home during a photo call, California, USA, 1956. (Photo by Gene Lester/Getty Images)
The Spanish-style house where Marilyn Monroe spent her final months — and where she died in 1962 — has survived yet another demolition attempt after a Los Angeles judge declined to block the city’s efforts to preserve it.
On Tuesday, a Superior Court judge sided with Los Angeles officials, rejecting a request by the property’s current owners to undo the home’s landmark designation, The New York Post reports.
The ruling, delivered in a brief written order without explanation, leaves intact a City Council vote last year to protect the Brentwood residence.
The saga began in September 2023, when demolition paperwork was filed for the property at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, a low-slung hacienda built in 1929.
By then, the 2,900-square-foot four-bedroom house had passed through 14 owners since Monroe bought it in February 1962 for $77,500 (AUD $119,000), which is equivalent to $831,000 (AUD $1.3 million) today.
She lived there just six months before her death from a barbiturate overdose at the age of 36.
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This Brentwood home, located at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in the upscale Los Angeles neighbourhood, was once owned by Marilyn Monroe.
Attempts to remove its heritage status have been repeatedly blocked.
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Brinah Milstein, daughter of a prominent Cleveland developer, and her husband, reality television producer Roy Bank, acquired the estate for $8.35 million (AUD $12.8 million) in 2023.
The couple, who also own the adjoining parcel, intended to combine the sites and raze Monroe’s one-time refuge.
A demolition permit was initially issued, but preservationists intervened and the city imposed an emergency freeze.
The case then shifted to the courts, where lawyers sparred over whether the City Council’s June 2024 designation vote was improperly influenced.
The owners argue the house has been so altered that little remains of Monroe’s time there.
“There is not a single piece of the house that includes any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day at the house, not a piece of furniture, not a paint chip, not a carpet, nothing,” according to their lawsuit. They claim the city colluded with tour operators and conservationists to deprive them of property rights.
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The room where Marilyn Monroe died in 1962. Picture: Getty Images
Marilyn Monroe was removed from the house following her death and taken to Los Angeles County morgue.
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Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the district, had introduced the motion and emphasised Monroe’s cultural legacy.
Judge James Chalfant observed during a hearing that there was “little doubt” Park was biased when she pushed for landmark status. That observation fuelled the owners’ claim that the process was legally tainted.
The city countered that the designation was legislative, not judicial, and therefore bias was irrelevant.
“It’s for future generations,” Deputy City Attorney Lucy Atwood said. “It has nothing to do with particular property owners of this property.”
Attorneys for the owners argued otherwise. Glaser Weil partner Peter Sheridan said that in a quasi-judicial context, “one biased participant … invalidates an entire decision.”
The courtroom exchanges drew the attention of local preservation advocates.
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The current owners have been fighting to demolish the home.
They also own the property nextdoor and were hoping to combine them.
Kim Cooper, co-founder of Esotouric LA, said the hearings spotlighted an often-overlooked bureaucracy.
The city’s “lack of granularity” in its responses showed officials “do not take historic preservation as a public policy seriously,” Richard Schave, Cooper’s fellow co-founder, told Bloomberg.
Still, Cooper noted, “there could still be a happy ending” if the owners opted to relocate the house.
“LA has thousands of celebrities who live and die here,” Sheridan wrote in an email to Bloomberg earlier this summer. “Is every house that those good folks lived in a ‘historic monument’? Not in the least.”
Some real estate professionals say the city didn’t act soon enough.
“In this particular case, it’s too little too late,” Aaron Kirman, chief executive of Christie’s International Real Estate, Southern California, told the outlet. “The city should’ve designated this as a historical site long ago.”
The iconic image of Marilyn Monroe standing over a New York subway grate. Picture: AP
An aerial view of the house where actress Marilyn Monroe died. Picture: Getty Images
Life magazine reporter Richard Meryman, who toured the house in July 1962, recalled Monroe’s pride in the property.
“She exulted in it,” he wrote. She had hunted for furnishings on a trip to Mexico, describing “with loving excitement each couch and table and dresser, where it would go and what was special about it.”
That optimism contrasted with the turmoil of her final months, when she lost her film contract, won a Golden Globe, and sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” at a gala for John F. Kennedy — all while retreating to what she called her private refuge.
For now, the home remains intact, its high fences and tall trees shielding it from public view.
Behind them lies a modest stucco structure with beamed ceilings, terracotta floors and casement windows — features that once spoke to Monroe’s desire for sanctuary. A slew of original architectural features remain, including beamed ceilings, terra cotta tile floors and casement windows that idealise Old Hollywood.
Outdoor features include a sparkling pool, lush lawns and a citrus orchard.
A chilling Latin inscription on the front door reads “Cursum Perfico,” which translates to “My Journey Ends Here.”
English (US) · 