Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood Home Faces Demolition as Owners Challenge Landmark Status

Photo: Bloomberg

A Los Angeles court is reviewing a lawsuit over the Brentwood home where Marilyn Monroe spent the final months of her life. The owners are seeking to overturn the decision granting the house landmark status and to secure permission for demolition, Bloomberg reports.

Landmark or Commercial Interest?

The lawsuit was filed by Cleveland developer’s daughter Brinah Milstein and TV producer Roy Bank, who purchased the home in 2023 for $8.35 million. Soon after, they obtained a demolition permit and planned to merge the lot with their adjacent property, where they have lived since 2016. But the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission and preservation group Los Angeles Conservancy succeeded in securing historic designation for the house, halting demolition and triggering a legal battle.

The plaintiffs argue that authorities violated the constitution by acting in the interests of tour operators and biased preservationists. They claim the move effectively stripped them of their property rights. The owners maintain that the house has no genuine historic value, as not a single physical trace of Monroe’s life remains there — “no furniture, no paint, no carpet, nothing.” They contend the designation was arbitrary rather than based on objective evaluation.

Attorney Peter Sheridan questioned the principle of broad landmark protection for homes linked to celebrities solely by residence. He noted that Los Angeles has thousands of celebrity homes, but mere occupancy does not confer historic importance. Granting Monroe’s home protected status, he warned, sets a precedent for designating virtually any star’s residence as a landmark.

City attorneys, led by District Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto, countered that Los Angeles acted within the law and followed due process. They stated that evidence had been gathered on the home’s significance in Monroe’s biography and that the owners’ objections alone cannot nullify the city’s authority to preserve cultural heritage.

History of the House

Built in 1929 in Spanish hacienda style, the single-story house has stucco walls, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. In early 1962, Marilyn Monroe purchased it for $75,000 — her first property as a sole homeowner.

During six months in Brentwood, she won a Golden Globe, famously sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President at John F. Kennedy’s celebration, was suspended by 20th Century Fox, and posed for Bert Stern’s iconic The Last Sitting photographs.

In July 1962, she gave a Life magazine interview, showing the nearly empty house but refusing photography for privacy reasons. She described plans for furniture bought in Mexico, which never arrived before her death. In August 1962, Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose in this house at the age of 36, making it her last address.

The property changed owners 14 times over the decades and underwent major alterations, including added wings and studios. The current owners argue these changes erased its original character. They also note the house sits in a cul-de-sac, shielded from public access, and have suggested relocating it to a more suitable public site.

“Here Ends the Journey…”

Public debate about the house began two years ago, drawing crowds of fans. Milstein testified that her children are frightened by low-flying drones launched by trespassers. Realtor Aaron Kirman argued the landmark designation came too late, after excessive modifications.

At the entrance, however, a tile inscription remains: Cursum Perficio — “Here ends the journey.” While installed before Monroe’s purchase, the phrase gained symbolic meaning through her story. Historian Heather Goers noted that less than 3% of Los Angeles’ 1,300 protected landmarks are tied to women’s history, making Monroe’s home uniquely important.

Andrew Salimian of Los Angeles Conservancy stressed that the Brentwood residence is the only home Monroe ever bought herself and remains essential to understanding her legacy. The court will now weigh the legality of the city’s decision against the owners’ claims.

Bloomberg adds that celebrity homes are a cornerstone of L.A.’s tourist industry, fueling bus tours from Hollywood to the Pacific. In Brentwood, the gates of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kamala Harris, and Harrison Ford are popular stops — Monroe’s home sits squarely on that celebrity map.

Other Precedents

This case is not unique. In 2024, controversy surrounded the demolition of architect Craig Ellwood’s Brentwood modernist home by Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger, which preservationists decried as the “destruction of a modernist icon.”

In Phoenix, Frank Lloyd Wright’s David and Gladys Wright House narrowly escaped demolition in 2012 thanks to preservation campaigns. Its new owners established a protective easement to ensure long-term survival.

In early 2025, California wildfires destroyed homes by Richard Neutra and Gregory Ain — rare postwar affordable housing projects — sparking alarm among historians.