Marilyn Monroe decided to call her house, the only one she owned, “Cursum Perficio”: My journey ends here. And the journey of that house has been about to end. But 12305 Fifth Helena Drive will ultimately survive. In that direction sits the only house that belonged to Marilyn Monroe. The movie star was married three times, she lived with her three husbands, she spent seasons at the famous Roosevelt Hotel, located on Hollywood Boulevard, but it was not until she turned 35 that she bought her first and only house her. A small house, far from being called a mansion, of about 270 square meters in the Brentwood hills, west of Los Angeles. A villa that after her death passed from hand to hand until now, when it has been about to be destroyed. Its new owners requested a demolition permit last August, which was a mere formality, that is, they were going to be able to tear it down. The news was known on Thursday and just 24 hours later it has been known that said demolition has stopped.
As EL PAÍS has learned, right now the house cannot be demolished. This has been made known by the Los Angeles Department of Citizen Planning. This Friday morning, the Citizen Council voted to initiate the procedures that will nominate the Monroe house as a Historical-Cultural Monument (HCM), which would incorporate it into a list of protected assets. In that list there are more than 1,200 buildings scattered throughout 35 areas of the city, more than 50 of them in Brentwood, but the actress’s house was not there. Now she will be, and that prevents her from touching her. “This means that there is now a suspension of all permitted activities at the residence, including demolition, while the HCM nomination is processed. The demolition cannot be carried out at this time”, they insist from the Department. The Cultural Heritage ordinance is enrolled in an administrative code that indicates that the process stops, but not just tear it down: “The suspension of demolition and substantial modifications are included.”
In other words, for now the city prevents not only the house from being demolished, but also not being able to touch the property, which in these 60 years after the death of the star has undergone certain changes, especially in the kitchen and the bathrooms; also when an annex building that was intended as a guest apartment was added to the main residence. First the study of the nomination has come, but the city can take up to six months to make the decision to consider (if it does, which everything indicates yes) the house as a Historical-Cultural Monument, and how to protect it after.
As the city explains, “now that the nomination has started, the staff of the Department of Citizen Planning and Historic Resources will prepare everything. From the start, the Cultural 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 act on the nomination. Owner [de la casa] You can ask for extensions of time if you need it.”
In 2013 there was already a first attempt to consider the villa, Spanish or colonial style, as part of the city’s historical heritage, as confirmed by the Department of Citizen Planning to this newspaper. Its technicians came to inspect the place and even issued a small public report where they discussed their possible inclusion on the HCM list. But since the house was private property and they could not access it, only seeing it from the outside, like so many other tourists who walk there every day, they did not reach a definitive conclusion. It is unknown how the city will now find out its status, since the house is still in private hands. What is not known is if it is from the marriage formed by Dan Lukas and Anne Jarmain, owners of an investment fund, and who took it over in 2017 for between seven and eight million dollars, or if it belongs to new owners.
Monroe bought the house in 1962 for 77,500 dollars, which with inflation would mean almost 760,000 dollars today (710,000 euros) and already had a certain historical value, since it was built in 1929. It has handmade tiles (they read, precisely , that inscription, “Cursum Perficio”), vaulted wooden ceilings with exposed beams, terracotta floors and a pool in which, according to urban Hollywood legends, the star never got to bathe. He decorated it with care, with a lot of handicrafts brought from Mexico, although he did not complete it and, when he died, there were closed boxes in the corridors. A year after her death, it passed into the hands of a couple, Gilbert and Betty J. Nunez, who also took over many of the personal belongings that the actress accumulated there, and which decades later they auctioned off.
Until now, its owners had respected the place. The house is far from being like the current mansions of the famous, remote 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 utter isolation of Calabasas. In fact, the Brentwood neighborhood homeowners association regretted the news of its demolition on Thursday before this newspaper. “We are very saddened by the impending demolition of the house, especially since it is one of the most famous in the world,” cried Rodney Liber, a former film producer and resident of the area for 30 years. “However, the association does not have the power or jurisdiction to intercede, since there are no rules about obtaining permits from the city and the house is not on its list of historical properties. We had hoped that the current owners would have bought it to preserve it, but due to the value of the land they may have changed their minds.” Today, Liber tells this newspaper: “I am happy that there is a pause while the owners and the global community examine the value of maintaining this house, where one of the most famous women in the world lived and died.” A pause given by the powerful council of the city of Los Angeles, which has opened its eyes at the last moment to safeguard a piece of the immense and sadly decaying architectural and cultural heritage of its golden age. For now, your journey does not end here.
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