Gentle reader,
“Do we have to do everything ourselves if we want to know what’s happening in this damn town?!”
You might think we feel that way, if you read this newsletter and are regularly surprised by all the Los Angeles news we break—significant and complex stories that, for whatever reason, legacy news media doesn’t consider worth the effort.
But while we do work hard and all the time, and even try to solve the troubles of the city in our dreams, we’re never, ever alone in this.
Thanks to the preservation pals who share our love and concern for this special place, we have discerning eyes attached to nimble brains all over L.A.
This newsletter goes out with heartfelt thanks to the L.A. angels who help keep us, and you, informed about the evolving stories that matter—and man, do we have a couple of doozies to share!
So let’s serve up some scoops.
First up, news about Marilyn Monroe, with thanks to eagle-eyed docket watcher Rev. Dylan Littlefield.
You probably know that Monroe’s Brentwood house was declared an Historic-Cultural Monument after a heated council-initiated landmark campaign that saw City staff and much of L.A.’s volunteer historic preservation community (including us) subpoenaed for documents and in-person depositions. This was an expensive and intimidating experience that we believe is having a chilling effect on preservation advocacy by private citizens and heritage non-profits as well as City staff, commissions and elected officials.
While we reported many of its court room twists and turns, we didn’t break this story. The New York Post did, and the world may never know who it was with inside information that tipped off that out-of-town outlet about this red hot demo application that had mysteriously flown under the radar of elected officials, fans, neighbors, community groups and the press.
Whoever that person is, they changed history.
We wonder if scooping all local outlets on the Marilyn Monroe house demolition in September 2023 influenced the Murdoch family’s News Corp in its decision to expand its reach to California. It sure sent a message: the West Coast desperately needs more rigorous reporting. And it might not be a coincidence that these plans were announced on August 4, the anniversary of Monroe’s death in that very house.
The metaphorical ink on the HCM designation was scarcely dry, in May 2024, when it was challenged by the property owners on procedural grounds. (We’re mentioned in that filing, as Exhibit E.) But in the end, Judge James C. Chalfant weighed the arguments and ruled that the City had handled things properly, and there was no justification to undo the designation and grant the property owners their demo permit.
That was September 2025. On Hallowe’en, something scary hit the docket at Downtown L.A.’s Second Appellate District court house: The landmark status of 12305 West 5th Helena Drive has been appealed!
This means two things: 1) it’s now December, we’re the first to report the appeal, and and Los Angeles is still suffering from MIA news media, and 2) the landmark battle ain’t actually over yet.
The appellate decision will take some time, and because it’s an appeal, there won’t be opportunities for the public to attend hearings where the case is argued.
Sometime around May Day 2027, if past precedent holds, a panel of three judges will review the entire case and make their determination based on the facts and the law. They could ask for oral arguments, but it’s unlikely.
And while the appeal is pending, Marilyn Monroe’s house is still officially a landmark of the City of Los Angeles—whatever that’s worth.
Because, so far as we know, the house is vacant. A drone flight captured alteration of the “protected” swimming pool. The City has not only not moved to require restoration, but the code violation has been closed out by the LADBS inspector with no action. No official monument sign has yet been installed outside the gates.
It’s a troubling image: a beautiful home, empty, unwanted, while thousands of Pacific Palisades families mourn the loss of their homes in the January fire.
We wish there was a way the landmark could be sold to one of those families to make their own. But the property owners have the legal right to fight for their demolition permit, and it appears they won’t stop until they run out of courts to hear the case. So watch this space, and let’s hope for a Hollywood ending.
And if the grim state of Marilyn’s home leaves you feeling dyspeptic, why not wash the sour taste out of your mouth by watching tomorrow’s online auction of the incredible Joseff of Hollywood costume jewelry archive, including a couple of iconic Marilyn-worn pieces? And if you end up bidding, tell us all about it!
Before we get to scoop number two, here’s an update on Thursday’s Burial of the Unclaimed Dead service, which within hours sold out of a limited number of free tickets on the Eventbrite platform.
We and others have been advocating with the County, asking that they release more tickets so people who care can attend, but that’s not going to happen.
However, the County has said that they will have a line for people to queue in case of no shows. So there you go.
But we’re not comfortable telling those without tickets to line up at 3301 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90063 before 10am on December 11 without also saying that since tickets began being issued for this previously open-to-all service, unticketed mourners have watched the ceremony from behind the chain link fence on the Evergreen Cemetery property side. Angelenos are welcome to park inside Evergreen Cemetery, and we are comfortable in telling you that all are welcome there.
About the video at the top of this newsletter: it was shot during a special 40th Anniversary event honoring the founders of Hollywood Heritage at their Preservation Resource Center on the Boulevard. This space will have regular hours in the new year, which means more opportunities for you to see Joe Pellkofer’s amazing Hollywood in Miniature model. It’s worth seeing!
For scoop number two, we’re grateful to public documents sleuth Mike Callahan, author of the essential Dusty Archive Substack newsletter.
Mike recently got to wondering about the 2020 filings for the housing project that would require demolition of one of the oldest gay bars in America, the Silver Platter. When he started reading, he spotted something that apparently eluded every concerned entity outside the City of Los Angeles, including the team that named the bar one of the 13 Most Endangered Latinx Landmarks in the land.
What Mike found is, frankly shocking: the upzoned redevelopment project (DIR-2020-5151-TOC-HCA), submitted and approved during the height of the pandemic without public hearings—despite false claims that the building was not old and contained no historic resources—has a termination date that is triggered should no construction begin after three years.
That termination date came and went in April 2025 with no construction! *
[Update 12-9-25 from Mike Callahan: “The LoD expired 2 April 2025 per the terms and conditions listed in the LoD. Unfortunately, City Planning did not reference the COVID-19 tolling ordinance which extends the expiration date into late 2026 per my best guess. Can anyone confirm a fixed date? Apologies to all for the incomplete information.”]
The project appears to be dead. Yet there has been no statement to that effect from councilmember Eunisses Hernandez in Council District 1, even as local, state, national and international outlets have reached out for quotes about the inclusion of the Silver Platter Bar on the list of the nation’s most endangered Latinx sites five full months after the redevelopment danger had passed!
This is a huge deal, and we’re explicitly noting that those outside the City were unaware of it, because the Silver Platter’s owner received an eviction notice in January 2025 and is fundraising while seeking a Conditional Use Permit for a new location. This is a process which requires regular communication between the bar’s owner and City Council office, LAPD and other official entities.
It appears that none of them bothered to flag the expired approvals and told the family that owns the Silver Platter that demolition is no longer a threat. This change in circumstances could also mean that the eviction is not valid.
You’d think the Los Angeles City Planner who is a voting member of the group that selected the Silver Platter as one of the nation’s most endangered sites might have flagged the issue during determinations, but apparently not.
But wait, there’s more! The website for the developer of this supposed project, Roussin Capital Group, has been dark since late 2024. Here’s the archived version. Are they even in business anymore?
It all raises serious questions about the pending eviction of the Silver Platter for a dense, new housing development that is no longer approved by the City.
Should the property owner wish to pursue redevelopment at some future date, they need to do so in the proper manner, with a truthful application that acknowledges the historic building and the fact that any project would have a serious impact on a legacy business that’s much more famous today than it was five years ago.
If you think it’s long past time that councilmember Eunisses Hernandez took a stand for the iconic Silver Platter Bar, send her an email at Councilmember.Hernandez@lacity.org or call her office at (213) 473-7001 and let her know that the project is dead while the bar is still alive and you want her to save the Silver Platter and keep it where it’s always been, at 2700 West 7th Street in the heart of Westlake!
If you’d like to see the Silver Platter for yourself, we’ll be there on Saturday’s Westlake Park tour, a ramble around a neighborhood so rich in cultural and architectural landmarks and true crime lore that it makes us dizzy. Join us, do!
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
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• For the holiday season, we’ve got a special offer that’s just the thing for the L.A. lover who already has everything: purchase four walking tour gift certificates, and get an additional ticket for free, which you can gift or use yourself.
Our work—leading tours and historic preservation and cultural landmark advocacy—is about building a bridge between Los Angeles’ past and its future, and not allowing the corrupt, greedy, inept and misguided players who hold present power to destroy the city’s soul and body. If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar, 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 tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING WALKING TOURS
• Westlake Park Time Travel Trip (12/13) • Know Your Downtown L.A. (Saturday, 12/20) • Miracle Mile Marvels & Madness (Sunday, 12/21) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher Cases (12/27) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (1/24) • Alvarado Terrace & South Bonnie Brae Tract (1/31) • Hollywood Noir (2/7) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (2/14) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown L.A. (2/21) • Weird West Adams & Elmer McCurdy Museum Visit (2/28) • Film Noir / Real Noir (3/7) • Bunker Hill, Dead and Alive (3/21) • Christine Sterling & Leo Politi: Angels of Los Angeles (4/4) • John Fante’s Downtown L.A. (4/11) • Early Hollywood’s Silent Comedy Legends (4/18) • Downtown Los Angeles is for Book Lovers (4/25)
