Marilyn Monroe’s Final House Has Been Saved from Demolition (For Now)
Marilyn Monroe’s former Los Angeles home—the very place where the actress was found dead of a sleeping pill overdose in 1962—has been granted temporary deferment from demolition. Earlier this month, the owner of 12305 Fifth Helena Drive had received a permit to demolish the house, the New York Post reported. The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety had then given the green light for the “plan check” phase, meaning that the city was poised to review the owner's new architectural plans for the lot. That’s when the public stepped in.
Councilmember Traci Park told CNN that her offices were inundated with calls to save the fabled bungalow after word of its looming demise broke on Wednesday. “At this point, it may be into the thousands,” Park said of the volume of phone calls. “All of our phones in city hall and the field office have been ringing off the hook for the last 48 hours.”
"Immediately my team and I sprung into action" upon learning about the construction plans, Park said at a press conference Friday. "Unfortunately, the Department of Building and Safety issued a demolition permit before my team and I could fully intervene." The council then voted unanimously to temporarily suspend the owner’s permit to demolish the building and move forward in considering the home for historic-cultural monument status, according to the Los Angeles Times. Now, the Office of Historic Resources and the Historic Cultural Commission has 75 days to evaluate the building for this status that could guarantee its protection. Park told the LA Times that "This is a great win for the time being."
The 1929 Spanish Colonial hacienda was purchased by Monroe for $77,500 in 1962, after the actress had divorced playwright Arthur Miller. While she had lived in an astounding 43 houses in her lifetime, this was the first and only residence she had actually bought herself. It’s not hard to see why Monroe was so taken with this four-bedroom, three-bath home, which was dubbed by movie producer and neighbor Rodney Liber “one of the most famous houses in the world” in the L.A. Times. It’s nestled on a half-acre of land in Los Angeles’ famous Brentwood enclave. The lot boasts a spacious pool and citrus orchard. It was also tragically the place where Monroe was found dead at age 36 after a sleeping pill overdose, approximately six months after moving.
In the 61 years since her death, the Brentwood bungalow has undergone several renovations and changes in ownership. The property was evaluated in 2013 for landmark status, but that process had been stalled. Its current owner—Glory of the Snow Trust, whose trustee is Andrew Sahure—purchased the house for $8.25 million in July. It was previously owned by Glory of the Snow, an LLC managed by Emerald Lake hedge fund manager Dan Lukas and his wife, Anne Jarmain, who bought it for $7.25 million in 2017. While it remains unclear who the actual people behind the company name are, Park told the L.A. Times that the owners haven’t submitted any plans indicating what they intend to do with the property after their proposed demolition of the house.
“We have not been contacted at all by the property owner,” Park told CNN. “Most certainly they were aware of who owned the home previously and who lived and died there.”
"For people all over the world, Marilyn Monroe was more than just a movie icon," Park said in the press conference. "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."
In a fitting way, her last home, too, refuses to give up the fight.
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