A beloved vestige of Old Hollywood has been spared from destruction—at least, for now. Last week, the New York Post reported that the Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood Spanish Colonial was on its way to being demolished. The publication claimed that the new owner of the storied residence, where Monroe’s body was found in 1962 after an alleged barbiturates overdose, recently filed for a demolition permit. Thanks to a unanimous City Council vote on Friday that halted the process, the 2,900-square-foot hacienda—which was the only home the Golden Age starlet ever owned—may instead be preserved and recognized as a culturally and historically significant monument, according to the Los Angeles Times.
It was reported last week that the initial stages of the demolition process had already been approved by the city’s Department of Building and Safety. Per the LA Times, the department now plans to revoke the demolition paperwork that was filed. From here, LA’s Office of Historic Resources will research and assess the home and present their findings to the Historic Cultural Commission, which will then make their recommendation to the City Council. The entire bureaucratic process has a deadline of 75 days.
“Immediately my team and I sprung into action,” 11th District Council Member Traci Park said prior to the City Council meeting on Friday. “But unfortunately, the Department of Building and Safety issued a demolition permit before my team and I could fully intervene and get this issue resolved.” Following the meeting, Park told the LA Times that the motion to evaluate the structure for monument status is only the first step in saving it.
“What is most important about what we achieved today is that this automatically and immediately triggers a temporary stay on all building permits while this matter is under consideration by the cultural heritage commission and the City Council,” Park said. She shared that “hundreds of people from all over the world” have contacted the office to note their concerns about the home’s future. “For people all over the world, Marilyn Monroe was more than just a movie icon. Her story from her challenging childhood growing up in orphanages and foster homes to becoming a global sensation is a shining example of what it means to overcome adversity.”
Built in 1929, the L-shaped house changed hands in 2017 when an undisclosed buyer purchased it for $7.25 million, a whopping $350,000 over the asking price. This August, a new buyer scooped it up for $8.35 million. Unsurprisingly, the dwelling has been pretty popular with house hunters over the years, with six unique offers placed on the property immediately after the blonde bombshell’s death, per the Post. Monroe paid $77,500 ($790,000 adjusted for inflation) for the estate.
The last images of the house made public show a space that retains many of its period features, including vaulted wood-beam ceilings, casement doors, and tiles that may be the very same ones that the actor sourced on her trips to Tijuana and Mexico City. The primary bedroom features a fireplace that leads to a small patio. The backyard boasts a large manicured lawn with a kidney-shaped swimming pool, surrounded by lush vegetation and a formerly separate guest house that has now been merged with the main dwelling. In last year’s divisive biopic Blonde, based on the 1999 Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name, director Andrew Dominik recreated the bedroom where the former Playboy model was found.
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Monroe was clearly fond of the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house despite her relatively short residency there. Right before her death, the star was quoted in Life magazine as saying, “Anybody who likes my house, I am sure I will get along with.” Sadly, the How to Marry a Millionaire star occupied the property for only a short while as her life came to a tragic end six months after her purchase.
