Marilyn Monroe’s former home is safe from demolition for the foreseeable future after a hearing in which the Los Angeles Heritage Commission voted to declare the property – which the new owners demolished – a historic landmark.
The commission voted unanimously Thursday to designate Monroe’s home, located at 12305 W. 5th Helena Drive, as a historic property, with commissioners noting that while Monroe had only lived on the property for a few months, it was the only iconic home Hollywood ever bought itself. It is also the home where she tragically died at the age of 36 in 1962.
However, the future of the house is not completely secured.
In Los Angeles, a landmark designation “does not guarantee that a property cannot be demolished,” according to the city, but allows the Commission to delay demolition for 180 days until other preservation options are determined.
The next step in saving the property is a nomination review by the LA Planning and Use Board and then the LA City Council.
Marilyn Monroe’s house in Brentwood.
Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times via Getty
Designating the house as a historic site also doesn’t rule out the idea that the house could at some point be moved to a more central location — one that’s more easily visible to the public than the current neighborhood in which it sits. However, relocation would be a lengthy and expensive process and it remains unclear whether the home will be able to be moved.
The property faced the possibility of destruction after the Department of Building and Safety issued a demolition permit to its current owner, the Glory of Snow Trust, on September 5.
A few days after it was issued, the LA City Council unanimously voted to temporarily suspend said permit amid public outcry.
Glory of the Snow LLC purchased the home in 2017 for $7.25 million, according to The real thingbefore the trust of the same name bought it for $8.35 million in July 2023. After less than two months, however, they filed for its demolition.
The LA Office of Historic Resources conducted various evaluations in the weeks after the permit was issued to recommend that Monroe’s Spanish-style residence be permanently protected and designated as a historic site.
Marilyn Monroe’s former home temporarily saved from demolition after permits were issued last week
Scott Fortner, historian, collector and host of the All Things Marilyn podcast, played a key role in saving the house as part of the Monroe Preservation Group, which he says “worked tirelessly for months researching and documenting the history of Marilyn Monroe’s former and final home.”
The group found historical significance in the house well before the blonde bombshell’s tenure. “Our efforts and research, which we shared with today’s decision-making body, concluded that famed historic Los Angeles architect Harbin Hunter not only lived in the house, but very likely designed it.” The evidence lies in the famous plaques on the front door of the house that read “Cursum Perficio”, the motto of the hunting family, which translates to “I will persevere”.
Fortner adds, “Our group, which includes authors April VeVea, Gary Vitacco-Robles and Elisa Jordan, film producer and director Remi Gangarossa, and historians Kelly Lacroix and myself, are thrilled to be part of the process of recommending Marilyn’s home for Historic designation. cultural monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission today.”
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Aerial view of the house where actress Marilyn Monroe died on July 26, 2002 in Brentwood, California.
Mel Bouzad/Getty
Monroe bought the 2,624-square-foot hacienda for $77,500 shortly after she split from her ex-husband, playwright Arthur Miller, in February 1962.
The stucco home was built in 1929 and has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, beamed ceilings, a grassy yard, gardens, a pool and more.
A presentation given before the vote explained how, in her short time there, Monroe spent roughly $51,000 on renovations and renovations to the house. When inflation is factored in, that’s more than $500,000.
In an interview with Life Magazine shortly before her death, Marilyn described the property – specifically the apartment attached to her garage – as “a place for all my friends who are in trouble.” The actress then mused, “maybe they’ll want to live here where they won’t be bothered until things are OK for them.”
Shortly after that house tour, the actress died in the house in August 1962.
She was discovered by her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, after she noticed a light on in Monroe’s bedroom in the early hours of the morning. A coroner’s toxicology report officially stated the cause of her death as acute barbiturate poisoning, having allegedly ingested a lethal amount of Nembutal, which is often used to treat anxiety, and a sedative called chloral hydrate. Her death was ruled an overdose and “probable suicide.”
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Source: HIS Education