Marilyn Monroe’s iconic $8.3million Los Angeles home is saved from demolition and declared a ‘historic cultural monument’ after real estate heiress and her TV producer husband who live next door tried to tear it down

Marilyn Monroe’s iconic $8.3 million Los Angeles home has been saved from demolition and declared a “historic cultural monument.”

The Brentwood mansion would be razed by its owners, neighbors Roy Bank and Brinah Milstein. They hoped to use the land to expand their estate.

The couple bought the property in July 2023 and received a demolition permit, but conservationists and fans of the late actress quickly opposed it.

On Wednesday, a motion to protect the house by granting it landmark status passed unanimously after being introduced last year by Councilor Traci Park.

“There is no other person or place in the city of Los Angeles as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and her home in Brentwood,” Park said. “The loss of this piece of history, the only home Monroe ever owned, would be a devastating blow to historic preservation.”

Monroe bought the Spanish Colonial-style house in 1962 for $75,000 and died there six months later at the age of 36 of an apparent drug overdose.

TV producer Bank and real estate heiress Milstein argued that the house should not be designated as a landmark because of the short duration of the star’s stay there.

In May, they sued the city for acting unconstitutionally to preserve the house, police said Los Angeles Times.

Milstein and Bank argued that the house has again undergone an almost total transformation since the time Monroe occupied it.

“There is not a single piece of the home that contains any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day in the home, not a piece of furniture, not a paint chip, not a carpet, nothing,” the complaint said. to the New York Times.

The home has changed hands at least 14 times since Monroe’s death and has undergone numerous renovations with the city “taking no action regarding the home’s now perceived ‘historic’ or ‘cultural’ status,” the complaint says.

However, a judge denied their request to stop the historic designation.

A trial conference for the ongoing lawsuit is scheduled for August 13, The New York Times reports.

Monroe bought the Spanish Colonial-style house in 1962 for $75,000 and died there six months later at the age of 36 of an apparent drug overdose.

The Brentwood mansion was set to be razed by its owners, neighbors Roy Bank and Brinah Milstein, who hoped to use the land to expand their estate.

Marilyn Monroe’s $8.3 million Brentwood home could soon be demolished, as the Los Angeles City Council recently decided to postpone a vote on the home’s fate

It wasn’t just the couple who opposed the designation; locals were already tired of tourists passing through their neighborhood and expressed concern that the status could lead to an influx of even more people.

Although the house on Fifth Helena Drive is not visible from the street, fans of the late icon often stop by the bus to deposit flowers and try to see past the hedges.

Residents reported “terrifying” encounters with devotees convinced they were Monroe’s relatives or could learn more about the conspiracy theory that led to her murder.

Since 2013, the famous house has been labeled as ‘potentially historic’ by the city’s research programme, but at no point in the past eleven years has it merited the upgrade.

One possible solution put forward was to move the house so that the current owners could continue with their development.

The property was the first home she owned after the end of her third marriage to playwright Arthur Miller.

Monroe poses in front of her house in 1962, it was the only property she ever purchased and owned

The bed in which Monroe overdosed on August 4, 1962

The American actress, model and singer was found dead in the bedroom in August 1962.

The cause of death was determined to be acute barbiturate poisoning, a type of depressant.

Monroe was at the height of her fame at the time and was the most recognizable woman in the world.