Marilyn Monroe decided to name her house, the only one she owned, “Cursum Perficio”: My journey ends here. And this house’s journey was soon over. But 12305 Fifth Helena Drive will ultimately survive. In this direction is the only house that belonged to Marilyn Monroe. The movie star was married three times, lived with her three husbands and spent time at the famous Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, but it wasn’t until she was 35 that she bought her first and only home. A small house measuring about 270 square meters in the Brentwood Hills west of Los Angeles, which is far from being a mansion. A villa that passed from hand to hand after his death and is now on the verge of destruction. The new owners applied for a demolition permit last August, which was simply a process that meant they could demolish the building. The news broke on Thursday and just 24 hours later it was learned that the demolition had been stopped.
As EL PAÍS has learned, the house cannot currently be demolished. This was announced by the Los Angeles Department of Citizen Planning. This Friday morning, the Citizens Council voted to begin the process of nominating the Monroe House as a Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM), which would place it on a list of protected assets. There are more than 1,200 buildings in 35 neighborhoods on that list, more than 50 of them in Brentwood, but the actress’ home was not there. Now it will be like this and this will prevent you from touching it. “This means that all permitted activities at the residence, including demolition, are now suspended while the HCM nomination is processed. “The demolition cannot be carried out at this time,” the ministry insists. The regulation on cultural heritage is enshrined in an administrative law that provides for the process to be stopped, but not just demolished: “It includes the suspension of demolition and significant changes.”
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That is, for now the city not only prevents the house from being demolished, but also the property is not allowed to be touched, which has undergone certain changes in these 60 years since the star’s death, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms; also when an outbuilding was added to the main residence that was intended as a guest apartment. First up is the consideration of the nomination, but it could take up to six months for the city to make the decision (if so, which all indications are that yes) to consider the house a historical-cultural monument and to consider how it can be protected after.
The backyard of Marilyn Monroe’s Hollywood home, in a 1962 image. Keystone-France (Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
As the city explains, “Now that the nomination process has begun, the Department of Civic Planning and Historic Resources staff will prepare everything.” From the outset, the Heritage Commission has 75 days to review the nomination and make a recommendation to the City Council . And then the city council has 90 days to decide on the nomination. owner [de la casa] You can request an extension if necessary.”
In 2013, there was already a first attempt to consider the Spanish or colonial-style city as part of the city’s historical heritage, as the civic planning department confirmed to this newspaper. Their technicians came to inspect the place and even released a small public report discussing its possible inclusion on the HCM list. But since the house was private property and they couldn’t access it but only view it from the outside, like so many other tourists who go there every day, they didn’t come to a definitive conclusion. It is unknown how the city will know the status now that the house is still privately owned. It is not known whether it is owned by husband and wife team Dan Lukas and Anne Jarmain, owners of an investment fund who purchased it in 2017 for $7 million to $8 million, or whether it belongs to new owners.
Monroe bought the house in 1962 for $77,500, which with inflation would mean nearly $760,000 today, and already had some historical value since it was built in 1929. It has handmade tiles (that’s exactly what the inscription reads). , “Cursum Perficio”), vaulted wooden ceilings with exposed beams, terracotta floors and a pool in which, according to Hollywood urban legends, the star was never allowed to swim. He carefully decorated it with many handicrafts brought from Mexico, but did not finish it and at his death there were closed boxes in the hallways. A year after her death, it passed into the hands of the couple Gilbert and Betty J. Nunez, who also took over many of the personal items that the actress kept there and which they auctioned off decades later.
Aerial view of Marilyn Monroe’s former home in Brentwood, California. Mel Bouzad (Getty Images)
Until now, its owners had respected the place. The house looks nothing like today’s celebrity mansions, which are secluded and armored in the Hollywood hills. It’s a relatively simple place, in an affluent neighborhood, but far from the glamor of Bel Air or the complete isolation of Calabasas. In fact, the Brentwood Borough Homeowners Association told this newspaper Thursday that it regretted news of the demolition. “We are very sad about the impending demolition of the house, especially since it is one of the most famous in the world,” exclaimed Rodney Liber, a former film producer and 30-year resident of the area. “However, the association has no authority or responsibility to intervene as there are no rules for obtaining permits from the city and the house is not on the list of historic properties. We had hoped that the current owners would have bought it to preserve it, but due to the value of the property they may have changed their minds.” Today, Liber tells this newspaper: “I’m glad there’s a break while the Owners and the world community are examining the value of preserving this house where one of the most famous women in the world lived and died.” A pause from the powerful Los Angeles City Council, which opened its eyes at the last moment to own a piece of the huge and sadly to protect the decaying architectural and cultural heritage of its golden age. For now, your journey doesn’t end here.