A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the owners of the Brentwood home where Marilyn Monroe died, pushing back against their efforts to demolish the property. Roy Bank and Brinah Milstein, who live at the property, had sued the City of Los Angeles and Mayor Karen Bass, challenging the city's designation of the house as a historic monument.
The couple purchased the residence in 2023 for more than $8 million, stating in their lawsuit, filed in January in downtown Los Angeles, that they bought it “with the clear intent of demolishing the dilapidated structures on the property.” Their complaint alleged that the city's historic designation was made “without any public purpose or just compensation,” thereby curtailing their demolition plans.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit last week, concluding that Bank and Milstein had failed to state a viable claim for a taking. This ruling upholds the city’s decision to protect the property.
The effort to have the home designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument was led by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park, who held a news conference in 2023 backing the landmark designation.
Attorneys for Bank and Milstein argued in the original complaint that the property’s connection to Monroe is tenuous. They claimed that “Not a trace of Ms. Monroe’s short tenure at the house remains at the property or in the house — and the house has been substantially altered by successive owners over more than 60 years.” The iconic actress of “Some Like It Hot” lived in the 1929 Spanish Colonial-style house for only six months before she was found dead inside at age 36 in August 1962, a probable suicide by overdose, officials said at the time.
Since Monroe’s passing, the property, which cannot be viewed directly from the street, has changed hands more than a dozen times. It has undergone numerous renovations and received over two-dozen building permits from the city over the decades, all without ever having a historical designation before the current one, according to the lawsuit.
Since its designation as a Historic-Cultural Monument, the property has transformed into “a tourist attraction,” the complaint stated. This has reportedly led to increased traffic blocking the dead-end street and trespassers climbing walls in an attempt to get a better view of the famous residence.
