Saving Marilyn Monroe's house [updated]

Sep 09, 2023

**Update October 2024:** We got subpoenaed by the owners of Marilyn Monroe's house, so we're fundraising with a sale on tour tickets. Please help us cover our legal fees and save $100 when you purchase 10 walking tour tickets for the price of 8. Learn more at https://esotouric.substack.com/marilynmonroe9

Gentle reader,

What a wild few days it’s been! On Tuesday afternoon, the New York Post broke a most unusual Exclusive: a demolition permit was being sought for 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, a lovely 1929 Spanish Colonial hacienda with old trees on a large plot of land. But that’s not why it has its own Wikipedia page. It’s because Marilyn Monroe lived, and died, there…. (continues below)

Update: since this story is still unfolding, we will add chronological items of interest in this boxed off section. Scroll down or search for the name Harold Nebenzal to find the rest of the original newsletter post.

• Friday, 9/8/2023: Soon after city council voted for the Rule 23 motion which produced Council File 23-0953, a City Planning file was created for the Historic-Cultural Monument nomination for 12305 Fifth Helena Drive.

Tiktokker joy.of.everything visited the house and met and interviewed councilwoman Traci Park.

The Los Angeles Building and Safety Commission (LABSC) issued a stop work order for the house demolition and pool fill permits that were granted on Thursday, 9/7/2023, giving the property owner until Monday, 9/18/2023 to provide any reasons by they should not be revoked; this order which we obtained and posted to Archive.org was taped to the gate at the house.

Here is some background on the obscure and powerful city commission that issued the stop work order: in 2006, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa removed LABSC President Javier Nunez in response to allegations that the James K. Hahn appointee was among nine commissioners who received fast tracked building permits from LADBS. Nunez quietly rejoined the commission soon after Eric Garcetti took office in 2014 and is once again President. As reported in this front page and this page five story in the Beverly Hills Courier, residents of Bel Air were not happy with his reappointment. In 2020, Boyle Heights residents were equally distressed when he sought to shut down public comment to rush demolition of the potential city landmark German Hospital. We think Angelenos and journalists should ask why Mayor Karen Bass has not changed the makeup of this commission.

• Saturday, 9/9/2023: Marilyn’s House!, Nathan Marsak’s RIP Los Angeles blog post which played a key role in directing concerned citizens to contact the office of councilwoman Traci Park, is updated with public records and communication from PR reps for Daniel C. Lukas and Anne Jarmain of Glory of the Snow LLC denying the couple have any connection to Glory of the Snow Trust, the entity to which they recently sold the property. Note that the widely reported, ungoogleable name of trust representative "Andrew Sahure" appears to be a typographical error for Andrew Schure. This wrong name even appears in the Building and Safety Commission notice. Actual ownership remains mysterious, with the possibility that the trust name was deliberately chosen to confuse.

Instagrammer merchmotel visited Marilyn’s house and photographed the posted Building and Safety Commission notice, and pink and yellow roses left by fans.

• Sunday, 9/10/2023: We inquired with the Brentwood Community Council, the Neighborhood Council equivalent that under the Demolition Notification Ordinance is supposed to receive 30 day notification before LADBS grants a permit to tear down any structure older than 45 years. They say that they received no city notice, and only learned of the proposed demolition from the story in The Real Deal on 9/8/2023—one day after the demolition permit was granted! On Tuesday, 9/12/2023 at 5:30pm, BCC’s Land Use Committee will discuss this matter in a Zoom meeting that is open to the public.

• Monday, 9/11/2023: One business day after we took credit for our volunteer advocacy with councilwoman Traci Park to stop the impending and illegal demolition of Marilyn Monroe's house, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission emailed us about a trumped up unregistered lobbying accusation. Coincidence?

• Wednesday, 9/13/2023: We're in the New York Times, talking with [expletives deleted] about efforts to save Marilyn Monroe's house. Even better: the paper of record confirms the demo permit was illegal, as the Brentwood Community Council didn't get the required 30 day notice! (Perhaps related: the Los Angeles City Ethics Committee has accused us of being unregistered lobbyists.)

• Wednesday, 9/20/2023: We share low altitude dronescape footage of Marilyn’s home shot by The Artery.

• A clue! Eagle-eyed Steven Keylon chimes in on our Facebook page that several trees and a large section of wall have been removed between Marilyn’s backyard and the property next door at 12306 6th Helena. That contemporary traditional 5 bedroom house last sold in 2016 for $8.1 Million. The owner is listed as Helena Trust, Jeffrey L. Reuben Trustee. Wall removal requires an LADBS permit in Los Angeles. No such permit has been pulled by the owners of 12306 6th Helena or 12305 5th Helena. Is the mystery owner the next door neighbor? According to Yahoo/Variety, the 6th Helena home is owned by reality television producer Roy Bank.

• Friday, 9/22/2023: Two days after we publish The Artery’s dronescape footage showing a wall and trees removed between the Marilyn Monroe residence and the property next door, The Robb Report claims that the secretive demo seeking buyer is, as suspected, the billionaire heiress Brinah Milstein, of the Federal housing official bribing Milsteins—and suggests she may have blinked. And thanks to the public records sleuthing of Mike Callahan, we can report that today was to have been the first day of five weeks of demolition, had the illegal demolition permit not been halted. Some asbestos was already removed from Monroe’s house on 8/17/2023. Curiously, the Robb Report’s Facebook post spins the story in Binah Milstein’s favor, suggesting the new owner is “saving” Monroe’s house from demolition!

• On Thursday, January 18, 2024, the Cultural Heritage Commission discussed the landmark nomination. Members of the public wishing to be heard had the chance to call or Zoom in or make public comment in person at City Hall, or send emails. The email from Parisian art historian Jacques Le Roux, about how Marilyn Monroe is a sacred figure of veneration, is very powerful. Here is the agenda and the nomination. We attended, made supportive public comment and live tweeted the proceedings—from the property owners and their attorney alleging improprieties with the nomination process, suggesting Monroe intended to move to New York, falsely claiming the house is not visible from the street, and offering to just pay to move the house somewhere else. Then to the commissioners’ debate, starting with Richard Barron starting to cry as he described the experience of being in the room where Monroe died. The vote, as we hoped, was a unanimous 5-0 in favor of declaring 12305 Fifth Helena Drive a city landmark for its association with Marilyn Monroe. Next up: a vote from the PLUM Committee and full City Council. (Parenthetically, relocation was an odd angle to bring up at this hearing, since it has no relevance to the determination being made. The location is a big part of the home's significance—a single woman buying her own home in the neighborhood where Hollywood mistresses were kept sent a powerful message. The suggestion raises so many questions: Can a single pour concrete home of this vintage even be moved? Would the very wealthy owner cover the cost of a new parcel, moving the house, restoring it and endowing a museum to operate it?)

• On 1/31/2024, the City Council file was updated with the Cultural Heritage Commission's findings from the January 18 hearing. Three pages to say yes, the house is associated with the greatest star of them all. The matter was then referred to the PLUM Committee of Los Angeles City Council, from which it will pass to full City Council for a final vote. The city has until April 17, 2024 to hear this matter under the municipal code.

• On 2/23/2024 it was announced that the next hearing, at the powerful Planning and Land Use Management Committee, will be held on Tuesday, March 5 around 2pm. Citizens who wish to make spoken public comment must be physically present in City Hall’s John Ferraro Council Chamber Room 340, but written comments can be submitted to the case file by clicking NEW at this link.

Here is our pre-PLUM update with links to interesting last minute submissions to the council file. Among them is opposition from the Brentwood Community Council including a letter from corporate branding entity Authentic, which controls the Marilyn Monroe Estate and is co-owner of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, is working with the property owners to try to move the house, restore it, and reopen it by Marilyn Monroe’s centennial in 2026 as a tourist attraction. Also, here are the property owners’ remarks from the CHC hearing on 1/18/2024.

And here’s our report with video from the PLUM Committee hearing and vote on 3/5/2024: a unanimous yes! The matter of Marilyn Monroe’s house becoming a protected landmark will next go to full City Council for a vote that’s merely a formality.

• On 4/3/2024 we were informed by CD 11 planning staff that the property owner has sent a letter to the City Attorney requesting a 60 day extension on the April 17 deadline to act. Such requests are typically honored, so we can expect a City Council vote on or before 6/17/2024.

Also in early April 2024, the property owners revved up the anti-landmark PR engine with a negative TV news spot (4/2/2024) followed by an aggressive letter from attorney George J. Mihlsten of Latham & Watkins LLP to the City Attorney threatening legal action if the house isn't moved out of Brentwood prior to any designation.

Mihlsten’s letter states “In addition, the Brentwood Community Council… also oppose[s] the designation.” This statement is in direct contradiction to the concern expressed by BCC Land Use Committee members at their 9/12/2023 Zoom meeting, and BCC chair Carolyn Jordan's pro-preservation statements to the New York Times on 9/13/2023.

So what happened between September and April to change the public position of the Brentwood Community Council? Because it is not not subject to the Brown Act, public meeting and transparency laws, this is something of a mystery.

But because councilwoman Traci Park introduced a motion on 01/19/2024 seeking to explore granting community councils the same privileges as Neighborhood Councils, we learn from the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council’s CIS of formal opposition that “Community Councils can restrict board membership in any way they choose, do not need to give notice of meeting times and locations, do not have to allow the public to attend and address them, or let the public know what they are discussing and deciding… Community Councils can meet and decide issues in ways that are opaque and secretive.”

However, in this case, the Brentwood Community Council held an emergency public meeting via Zoom on 3/4/2024 to discuss sending a letter to PLUM opposing landmark designation. Click here and enter passcode bwJ6pM#T to watch the recording, including remarks from the property owners. (Cheers to preservation pal Mike Callahan for alerting us to this meeting and video.)

• On 5/6/2024, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times on 5/7/2024, property owners Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank filed suit to halt the City’s pending vote on landmarking Marilyn Monroe’s house, and to allow them to proceed with demolition. They allege “city officials acted unconstitutionally in their efforts to designate the home as a landmark and accusing them of of ‘backdoor machinations’ in trying to preserve a house that doesn’t meet the criteria for status as a historic cultural monument.” We will update this post with a link to the lawsuit as soon as we have it.

• On 5/8/2024, we obtained a copy of Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank’s Petition of Writ of Mandate, and found that we are mentioned in it. This is a troubling filing for many reasons, and we’ve written about it here.

• As reporters ask the property owners’ attorneys for comment on their Petition, they repeat their disturbing allegation that there is some conspiracy in a private citizen, who is also owner of a tour company, having sent an email to the office of an elected official (see Exhibit E, pages 53-55 here).

In a statement provided to The Independent UK (Owners of Marilyn Monroe’s home sue Los Angeles for right to demolish historic property, 5/8/2024), Peter C. Sheridan says “The City’s conduct, including blatant deceit regarding its behind-the-scenes dealings with biased third-parties to rig the process (including involvement of profiteering tour operators), has caused irreparable harm to the plaintiffs and petitioners, depriving them of their vested rights.”

And in The Sacramento Bee (Owners of Marilyn Monroe’s house are suing to tear it down in California. Here’s why, 5/8/2024), Sheridan is quoted in a statement provided to McClatchy News: “The City of Los Angeles engaged in an illegal and unconstitutional conspiracy... In particular, the City invoked an unconstitutional ‘stay’ of city issued and vested demo and grading permits, secretly worked with third-parties (including for-profit tour operators and a local conservancy organization) to assure their desired outcome.”

• On 5/26/2024, Patch syndicated a City News Service report quoting the City of Los Angeles’ response to the petition for writ of mandate. This opposition document is filed under a confidential seal, perhaps in error, so it is not clear how CNS obtained a copy. The City will make its case in person at the 6/4/2024 hearing on the preliminary injunction before Judge Chalfant at the Mosk Courthouse.

• 6/2/2024 we publish details of plans by previous owners Daniel C. Lukas and Anne Jarmain to essentially demolish Marilyn Monroe’s house in a major redevelopment project they were calling a remodel.

• 6/3/2024 we publish the City’s opposition, which is not actually confidential, and Judge Chalfant’s tentantive decision denying the property owners’ motion for preliminary injunction.

• 6/4/2024 we leave the courthouse and confirm that Judge Chalfant has denied the motion for preliminary injunction, with one small change from his tentative decision.

• 6/9/2024 we announce that the final vote on landmarking Marilyn Monroe’s house will be conducted by City Council on Wednesday, June 12, and provide directions for those wishing to make written public comment or watch the vote in person.

•6/12/24 at the last moment at Los Angeles City Council, councilmember Traci Park pulled the Marilyn Monroe's house landmark vote, stating: "Following the recent court decision and pending litigation as well as ongoing discussions between the City Attorney's office and the property owners, I would like to continue item 3 for 15 days for good cause." Council President Paul Krekorian reminded her that the item expires this Friday 6/14 and asked if that was long enough. Park appeared uncertain, but by the end of the day the Council File was updated with a revised last day to act of 6/26/24.

•6/21/24 the agenda has just been published for the 6/26/204 City Council meeting. City Council will vote on landmarking the Marilyn Monroe house on this last possible date. It's agenda item 7, with closed session about litigation. Will they give the owners their demolition permit? Does Authentic Brands want to move the house? Watch this space, or go to City Hall / tune in to the livestream and find out.

• 6/26/24 the final vote on landmarking Marilyn Monroe’s house was item 7 on City Council’s agenda. We filmed councilmember Traci Park’s remarks and the final vote and wrote about how the process worked. There was no closed session to discuss litigation. Traci Park says she still is talking with the property owners about moving the house elsewhere (this is later categorically denied by the property owners’ attorney in a statement to Variety), and intends to introduce a motion to ban tour buses on 5th Helena Drive (which she does later in the meeting, see map below and motion here). Unanimous YES vote from the council—Marilyn Monroe’s house is now a protected Historic-Cultural Monument in the city of Los Angeles!

Esotouric press clips: We appreciate the thoughtful coverage from Keiran Southern for the Times of London about the preservation efforts to halt demolition of Marilyn Monroe's home, and the chance to speak for all the concerned citizens who asked the City to landmark it… And in the Daily News, Kim said she understands people’s fascination with the pop culture icon who endured a difficult childhood yet found success by putting a “playful, intelligent spin on the ‘dumb blonde.’ The love people feel for her is very real and very strong. You can tell there are people all over the world … (who, if) they never see the house, just knowing it exists makes them feel something.”.. We also weighed in with Robert Kovavic’s NBC4 News about the international interest in the landmarking.

• 6/27/24 in Town & Country, art and real estate collector Tina Trahan, is quoted as saying, “if she had known [Monroe’s] one-story, four-bedroom house was on the market, she would’ve spent millions to ensure it wouldn’t turn into manicured grass.” The property was purchased by the current owners off market, for the purpose of demolishing it. Had it been listed as a public sale, Trahan and others who want to preserve and restore it might have paid even more than Milstein-Bank did.

• 6/28/24 in an exclusive with gossip blog TMZ, “sources close to” property owners Milstein-Bank say they “feel violated by the ruling and don't want to be forced to sell,” intend to fight the designation in court, and allege the property has a leaky roof which the owners do not intend to repair, as “the new designation makes it very complicated.” However, doing structural work that does not change a landmark’s appearance is not complicated: one need only apply for a standard LADBS permit, and Office of Historic Resources will sign off. Not repairing a leaking roof would, in effect, lead to demolition by neglect.

• 6/28/24 What appears to be recent drone footage has been posted on the x17online YouTube channel showing Marilyn Monroe's swimming pool, a character defining feature of her now landmarked home, has been filled in and sodded over. This is not allowed under the terms of the Historic Cultural Monument designation and would be in direct violation of the 9/8/23 LADBS notice rescinding the pool backfill permit #23030-30000-04877.

• 7/7/24 A code violation complaint for “construction done without permits or inspections,” perhaps the filled in pool, is now under investigation by LADBS.

We will continue to update the newsletter with items of interest about Marilyn Monroe's home landmarking. But LADBS' failure to notify the community is a big deal: this means that the demolition permit that was issued and swiftly halted due to the unprecedented actions of councilwoman Traci Park was in fact illegal. So many good buildings have been wrongly destroyed. We need systemic change now.

• 7/25/25 The National Trust for Historic Preservation announces its partnership with the Los Angeles Conservancy on an initiative to highlight the oft ignored role of women in historic places in Los Angeles, including the Marilyn Monroe residence.

•8/4/24 on the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death, Karina Wilson chronicles the traumas suffered by the quasi-orphan Norma Jeane Baker, and how she transformed herself into the gilded star Marilyn and too briefly found a safe nest on 5th Helena Drive.

•10/23/24 in June, we got subpoenaed as third party witnesses by the owners of Marilyn Monroe's house, along with others in the historic preservation community. While this was hanging over our head, we stopped doing timely court reporting, but kept good notes about the ongoing efforts to reverse the landmark designation. Catch up all that’s been happening at https://esotouric.substack.com/marilynmonroe9

We dedicate this preservation campaign to the memory of our dear friend Harold Nebenzal, in honor of his best friend Billy Wilder.

Original newsletter post continues below: The story in the Post spread across old Hollywood loving social media like wildfire. It had everything: an iconic property, associated with a beloved star, threatened with the same hideous fate that so many beautiful but less famous Los Angeles houses have suffered—an off market sale for more money than any decent person would spend on a house, followed by a quick demolition, presumably for a huge, ugly, expensive house that will be torn down in a few years for a more huge, more ugly, more expensive house.

It wasn’t unusual that the Post ran the story—it got a million eyeballs. It was unusual that they got the story at all.

For as L.A. preservationists have long lamented, despite Eric Garcetti’s boasting that he would be the transparency and data Mayor, there is no online database of demolition permits, no central repository for applications to destroy useful homes, offices and storefronts. The only permits easily found are for new buildings, or for demolitions that have already been approved.

Where did Mary K. Jacob get the tip? We think somebody in the City Family must have a soul, and needed to tell the world what its nameless owner had planned for the house that meant so much to Marilyn Monroe, and to her fans around the world. If any reporter in Los Angeles got this tip, they didn’t run with it. But by Tuesday evening, everyone was scrambling for clues.

We, however, were checking the map. Brentwood is in Council District 11, Traci Park’s district. The Demolition Notification Ordinance, in effect since 2018, calls for a public notice before any building can be torn down: a large sign posted in the public right of way, letters to near neighbors, communication with the local Neighborhood Council and the City Council office.

As far as we could determine, nobody had received that notice. Later, we’d send a Westside preservation pal over to see if there was a demolition permit on the gate—thanks, Steve!—and he confirmed that there was no sign that the pretty house at the end of Fifth Helena was threatened.

Next, we called Sean Silva, Field Deputy and Planning Liaison in Traci Park’s office. He had heard about the permit application, and agreed that it was something his boss found concerning and had her staff looking into. “Okay, then we’re going to put the word out that people who care should contact CD 11!”

Since Nathan Marsak had just relaunched his redesigned blog RIP Los Angeles with a promise to post one worrying demolition story daily all through September, we asked him to swap out Wednesday’s planned post for Marilyn's House!—wrapping up this powerful essay with a plea for concerned readers to ask Councilwoman Traci Park to initiate landmark consideration immediately, on the council floor, thus saving many weeks which could prove fatal, if an Historic Cultural Monument nomination was submitted by a private citizen.

By Thursday, The Los Angeles Conservancy, Hollywood Heritage and many social media channels were posting the message: there’s one person in Los Angeles who might be able to save Marilyn’s house, so let her know you care.

And you did, by the hundreds.

We were hopeful. And repeatedly checking the LADBS permit database. And yelling, when LADBS and the city’s other property portal Zimas stopped working. Trying different browsers, asking friends to try. Then suddenly LADBS was back online…

and the demolition permit had been approved!

Yes, barely three days after anyone knew there was a threat to 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, it looked like there was no hope. Except, we never lose hope. What about the legally required 30 days’ notice. What proof was there that it had been followed? Steve had seen no evidence of a sign.

We can’t know what kind of conversation was happening between council staffers, LADBS, Planning Department, Office of Historic Resources and the City Attorney, but we know they were asking questions, too. And every time we touched base, CD 11 let us know the emails were still coming by the dozen, they were trying hard to solve the problem, and they would keep us posted.

After the troubles we had with the previous officeholder in CD 11 around saving a landmark building that had been moved before, this was all extremely refreshing, if a bit disorienting.

First thing this morning, we were on the phone with CD 11 and the Los Angeles Conservancy, getting a preview of the fascinating policy plan that had come together late Thursday. The councilwoman would be holding a press conference before the council meeting began, to announce her motion to consider Marilyn’s house as a city landmark.

You can watch that press conference here, and Park’s introduction of the unusual, emergency Rule 23 Motion here. The motion passed. And with a flick of the pen, the bulldozers have been halted.

What is like behind those tall gates, in the property where Marilyn Monroe spent her last months of life? In 2013, before the last sale, a mother and daughter trespassed on the grounds and shot a fascinating video. The excitement and anxiety in their voices is as interesting to us as the glimpses of this special home. It’s only brick and stone and tile, yet it means so much to people.

And soon, the Cultural Heritage Commissioners will tour the property, taking dozens of photos that will become public record as part of the formal process of landmark consideration. They will determine if 12305 Fifth Helena Drive merits inclusion on the city’s list, and if so, what character defining features are to be protected under the ordinance so that this place will always remain recognizable to the pilgrims who come from all over the world to breathe the same sweet air that their favorite star once breathed.

Everyone we’ve talked to today is so happy. But somewhere, maybe in Los Angeles, maybe on a 300’ yacht in some foreign bay, somebody is not happy. They quietly paid a fortune for this house in an off market deal, and had plans to demolish, and perhaps also to build something. The very public process that will follow, now that landmark consideration has begun, may reveal something of those plans. We might even find out who owns the house. And no doubt there will be lively debates about the conflict between private property rights and the restrictions imposed by the historic preservation ordinance.

But the new owner, and the old ones, can’t say they weren’t warned. In July 2017, when the house last changed hands, the then anonymous real estate blogger Yolanda wrote:

A cautionary note: the listing for this property somewhat ominously mentions that this is “the largest parcel in all the Helenas” which Yolanda takes as a subtle hint that the .53-acre spread could easily accommodate a much larger and more family-friendly mansion. And the stark contrast in the looks of Mr. Lukas’s Venice house to this place makes us worry that the land value is what may have attracted him and the missus to purchase this mini-estate.

Look, kiddies, we’re all for personal property rights and blah, blah, blah. But a house like this is really a part of history and should be treated as such, limited architectural significance be damned. Yep, we said it. Yolanda just laid it out like that and that is how we’re gonna leave it.

Let us hope Mr. Lukas and Ms. Jarmain have the good sense to preserve this treasure. Otherwise, hun buns, Ms. Monroe’s legions of fans will come a-knockin’. And 55 years after her death, she still has plenty. Icons are blessed like that.

And that, friends, is what you call a material fact that must be disclosed in any real estate transfer.

And so as we prepare for tomorrow’s Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour, a truly unhinged excursion that we haven’t offered since 2019, we’re raising a toast to that unknown person with access to city documents who sounded the alarm, and helped bring fans of Marilyn Monroe, Spanish Colonial architecture and honest government together to fight for something special. And if you join us on the bus tomorrow, we can tell you even more that’s too hot for this newsletter!

Also, and by popular demand, we’ve added another Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue walking tour on Saturday, October 7.

yours for Los Angeles,

Kim & Richard

Esotouric

Psst… If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar and a subscriber edition of this newsletter, vintage Los Angeles webinars available to stream, in-person tours and a souvenir shop you can browse in. We’ve also got recommended reading bookshelves on Amazon and the Bookshop indie bookstore site. And did you know we offer private versions of our walking and bus tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.