Marilyn Monroe's Los Angeles home saved from demolition, for now

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• Marilyn Monroe's Last Home Saved From Demolition (For Now)
• Box Office
• Join the crowd to see Los Angeles in bigger-than-life images at Projecting L.A.
• Marilyn Monroe’s former Brentwood home takes step toward preservation
• Inside LACMA’s plans to share its collection with a new Las Vegas museum: ‘I’m a West Coast booster’

Good news, on March 5th, at the City of Los Angeles Planned Land Use and Management Meeting (PLUM), the Marilyn Monroe Residence cleared yet another hurdle on its journey toward Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) designation. During Park’s press conference, she voiced the importance of fighting demolition of the only home the “Some Like It Hot” actor ever owned. Many Angelenos weighed in on the matter during the public comment portion of the meeting. Some slammed the urgency around preserving Monroe’s home while the city faces a homeless crisis, while others spoke to the importance of honoring women by saving the home.

Marilyn Monroe's Last Home Saved From Demolition (For Now)

Monroe bought her Brentwood home in 1962, as her marriage to Arthur Miller (pictured here) was ending. The property is located at Fifth Helena Drive in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

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Earlier this year, the owners of the Brentwood residence were listed as Glory of the Snow LLC, managed by Dan Lukas of Emerald Lake Capital and his wife Anne Jarmain, who did not respond to The Times’ request for comment. In August, Glory of the Snow LLC sold the property to Glory of the Snow Trust for $8.35 million. Ellwood, an Ojai-based interior designer, spoke to The Times about her father’s late ‘40s Brentwood commission, known among locals as the Zimmerman House after original owners Martin and Eva Zimmerman. The property, which she described as a “time capsule” because of its Midcentury Modern aesthetic, was purchased last year and set for demolition seemingly without reason. In recent weeks, several reports revealed that the Marvel star and Schwarzenegger purchased the lot for $12.5 million and that their new mansion — to be designed by Ken Ungar — was the reason for the teardown.

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It was purchased in 2017 for $7.25 million, according to the Daily Mail, but the owners sold the property in Aug. 2023. Councilmember Park shared a photo of herself in black dress and pearls with a Marilyn-esque hairdo, triumphantly holding up the notice to stop construction, to Facebook with the caption, “WE DID IT! ” She submitted a request to the Council on Friday for the property to be deemed a historic cultural monument. The fans spoke up and demanded action, and it worked,” the Marilyn Monroe Collective wrote in an Instagram post. City Council member Traci Park] requested and received approval of a notice to stop construction and a notice of intent to revoke the building permit for the demolition of Marilyn Monroe’s home. Shortly before Monroe’s death, the star invited Life magazine into her Brentwood home.

Marilyn Monroe’s former Brentwood home takes step toward preservation

Monroe reportedly paid between $67,000 and $90,000 for it in 1962, shortly after divorcing her third husband, Arthur Miller. By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Although her life was tragically cut short, Marilyn had at last landed in a place where she could feel at home. Many of the lemon trees and herb gardens Marilyn planted are said to still be thriving on the property.

Last month, Lukas and Jarmain quietly sold the Monroe house to a buyer who has not yet been publicly identified. That person paid nearly $8.4 million for the property, in cash, and almost immediately applied for a demolition permit. The L.A. Department of Building and Safety recently approved the request for a “plan check” of the proposed work, though an official permit has not yet been issued. Considered a modest home at the time, it was all Monroe could then afford, and, besides, she was enchanted with the vintage hacienda. According to the biography Goddess, Marilyn cried when signing the final papers because she never imagined she’d be purchasing a home without a husband.

Kevin Deevey, who described himself as a Hollywood preservationist for many years, also wrote an email to the commission calling for the home’s protection. He said the house is part of an identity that is “being lost in Los Angeles,” focusing on the home’s architectural design. Park said her office took hundreds of calls from people this week about the planned demolition.

A spokesperson for LA Councilwoman Traci Park says that their office received “hundreds of calls” asking her to step in, Reuters reports. And step in she did, introducing a council motion Friday asking the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) to consider the home for inclusion in LA’s list of historic cultural monuments. The motion was approved unanimously, giving the CHC 75 days to evaluate and approve the house as a landmark. Park introduced a motion to initiate consideration of the home for historic preservation, and the council unanimously voted to move forward, prompting the city’s building department to revoke the demolition permit.

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A curved driveway led to the front door, which opened into a wide living room with terracotta floors. Beams of wood lined the ceiling and a blue-tiled fireplace anchored the room. JGKlein/Wikimedia CommonsThe entrance to Marilyn Monroe’s Spanish-style home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Barry Milofsky, the commission’s president, noted that while Monroe’s home should be preserved, efforts to do so should not wait until demolition is pending. Barry Milofsky, president of the commission, noted that while Monroe’s home should be preserved, efforts to do so should not wait until demolition is pending. "The same courtyard, entry, and backyard with the pool and the expansive grassy yard and garden [from Monroe's time] are all there," Optican says.

Marilyn Monroe's Home Temporarily Saved From Demolition - PEOPLE

Marilyn Monroe's Home Temporarily Saved From Demolition.

Posted: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

A coroner's toxicology report officially listed her cause of death as acute barbiturate poisoning, as she reportedly ingested a lethal amount of Nembutal, which is often used to treat anxiety, and a sedative called chloral hydrate. The Los Angeles City Council has saved the actress’s Brentwood home from demolition — temporarily. Sixty years after her death there from an overdose, fans still leave flowers at the gate. When the police arrived, they found the Marilyn Monroe house only partly furnished. The actress had only lived in her safe haven for a few months before her death.

She paid a $40,000 deposit and began making $320 monthly mortgage payments in March. Eunice Murray, who was Marilyn’s live-in housekeeper, recalled that Monroe studied and memorized every detail of the home, brick by brick. The estate, nestled in a quiet neighborhood on Fifth Helena Drive boasts four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The group has found historical significance in the house well before the blonde bombshell's tenure. Glory of the Snow LLC purchased the home in 2017 for $7.25 million, according to The Real Deal, before a trust of the same name bought it for $8.35 million in July 2023. The designation of the home as a historic site also does not preclude the idea that the home could at some point be relocated to a more central location — one more easily viewable by the public than the current neighborhood in which it sits. Relocation would be a lengthy and costly process, however, and it remains unclear if the home would be able to be relocated. Demolishing a piece of history, if this is true I am also unfollowing. You can not be a marilyn fan then tear her house down for new aesthetics — just MOVE,” reads another.

While identified in 2013 by the City’s SurveyLA program as being potentially historic, the house is currently unprotected. The owners of Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood home argued against landmark status, but L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously voted to recommend the property as a historic cultural monument. The four-bedroom, four-bath home has been sold several times in the five decades since Monroe's death, most recently in 2010), but the style and feel of the property remains largely unchanged, real estate agent Lisa Optican tells Vanity Fair. "There have been owners in the past who have made changes to the property but the overall feeling and aesthetic and vibe of what attracted Marilyn to it is still there and you can feel it," Optican says.