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The Los Angeles home where Marilyn Monroe died in 1962 will not be sold in the wake of a ruling that named the property a cultural monument, TMZ reported.
LA City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to put the property on the list of Historic-Cultural Monuments after the home’s current owners sought to demolish the building and public outcry prompted the city’s action.
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After a permit for demolition had been filed on the property at the owners’ request last fall, the city council filed an emergency motion to establish the home as a Historic-Cultural Monument to halt the demolition in its tracks.
The 12-0 vote on Wednesday solidifies the home’s status.
The current owners, real estate heiress Brinah Milstein and reality TV producer Roy Bank, told TMZ’s sources that they will continue to fight the city council’s ruling.
The couple purchased the home in 2023 for about $8.35 million and claim the city employed “unconstitutional” methods to prevent the home’s demolition. TMZ’s sources said the couple feel “violated” by LA City Council’s ruling, and, despite shelling out several million for the home last year, they say the home is in a state of “total disrepair,” including major roof issues that have caused leaking.
The new Historic-Cultural Monument designation makes it difficult to even conduct the repairs needed on the home. So for now, the couple will continue trying to fight the designation instead of trying to work within the confines of the designation or sell the home.
Milstein and Bank had reportedly planned to demolish the home in order to expand their family home, which is on the adjacent plot.
The couple’s permit to demolish was initially approved by the city but suddenly halted in September once the home’s cultural significance came to light as “maybe thousands” of Marilyn Monroe fans called city offices with pleas to halt the demo, councilmember Traci Park said at the time.
In May, Milstein and Bank filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging it used “backdoor machinations” to save the 1920s-era bungalow, and previously said the home’s connection to Monroe was exaggerated since she only lived there “for a mere six months before she tragically committed suicide.”
Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose at the age of 36. The property on Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood was the only home Monroe ever owned.
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