The owners of the home where Marilyn Monroe last lived and died have sued the city of Los Angeles over what they call “backroom machinations” as part of efforts to flag the house and save it from a planned demolition.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, attorneys for Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank accused the city of violating its own codes and conspiring with third parties to secure the desired outcome during a hasty process of designating the house. 12305 Fifth Helena Drive a historical monument last fall.
The lawsuit highlights how the city participated in a “corrupt process to ensure their desired outcome instead of participating in a neutral and fair process,” Peter C. Sheridan, an attorney for the couple, said in a statement. The city did not respond to a request for comment.
Mrs. Monroe was the most famous woman in the world when she moved to in March 1962 Fifth Helena Drivea secluded residential street in the Brentwood neighborhood that is part of a series of 25 cul-de-sacs on Carmelina Avenue.
The actress became a pop culture icon in the 1950s with roles in films such as 'All About Eve', 'The Seven Year Itch' and 'Some Like It Hot'. But her time in Brentwood would not last long: in August 1962, Mrs. Monroe died a drug overdose in her bedroom at the age of 36. Fans and preservationists have argued that the house is part of Hollywood history and should be designated a protected property as part of its legacy.
Although Mrs. Monroe's house is not visible from the street, tourists frequently stop to leave flowers or catch a glimpse of the house. The house became known as Cursum Perficio, which loosely translates in Latin to 'I end the journey', and is a Spanish colonial-style property partially inlaid with ceramic tiles.
The original house is believed to have been built in 1929 and most of the changes were made before Mrs. Monroe purchased the property for $75,000. according to the city's application for historical designation, “and have therefore acquired significance in connection with the period of its occupation.”
“The subject property is the first and only home Monroe ever purchased by herself, and represents part of her productive period and a beginning of a new phase of her life,” the filing reads.
Ms. Milstein, an heir to a wealthy real estate family, and Mr. Bank, a reality TV producer, own the property next door and bought the Monroe house last July for $8.35 million to combine the properties and form their current expand house. Shortly afterwards they applied for a demolition permit.
The owners claim that “the house has undergone extensive changes since 1962,” according to the lawsuit. “There is not a single piece of the house that contains any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day in the house, not a piece of furniture, not a paint chip, not a carpet, nothing.”
Through 60 years, 14 owners and numerous permitted renovations, “the city has taken no action regarding the house's now alleged 'historic' or 'cultural' status,” the lawsuit says.
City records show that a demolition permit has been issued for the single-family home, attached garage, pool house and storage shed. Records also showed there were plans to fill in the kidney-shaped pool, lined with palm trees. This was captured in photographs when police responded to the scene of Mrs. Monroe's death in 1962.
But in “a flurry of activity,” the owners' attorneys said in the lawsuit, city staff and Councilwoman Traci Park, who oversees the district, secured “the desired outcome” when the City Council voted unanimously to begin the designation processleading to a temporary suspension of the demolition permit that the city's building department had approved just days earlier.
Ms. Park did not return a request for comment.
Ms. Milstein and Mr. Bank have expressed concerns that a historic designation would encourage an increase in tourism on the small, private road. During a hearing on cultural heritage in January, Ms. Milstein described tourists and their neighbors alike ringing the doorbell to enter the house. Some offered money to take photos because the house cannot be seen from the street.
A full City Council vote to formalize the designation is expected to take place this spring. Now the owners hope to restore their right to demolish the building.
The couple has offered to move the house so the public can interact with the building, and have even secured its support Authentic brand group, who manages Mrs. Monroe's estate and co-owns Elvis Presley's Graceland. The Brentwood Community Council, an organization that says it represents about 35,000 stakeholders including homeowners and business groups, and several other homeowners associations in the area oppose the designation and support the home's relocation.