Marilyn Monroe’s former home sparks 5th Amendment lawsuit
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A California couple is suing Los Angeles after the town blocked them from tearing down their property — Marilyn Monroe‘s former home — and declared it a historic monument.
In their federal lawsuit, Brinah Milstein et al. v. City of Los Angeles, householders Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank say they purchased the Brentwood property for $8 million in 2023 with plans to demolish its deteriorating constructions and redevelop the location. Monroe owned the two,300-square-foot Spanish bungalow for about six months earlier than her loss of life.
The grievance says the property has been closely altered over a long time by 14 earlier homeowners and is in declining situation.
The homeowners say Los Angeles issued demolition and grading permits on Sept. 7, 2023. A day later, the City Council moved to start the method of declaring the property a Historic-Cultural Monument, after followers of Monroe and historians pressured the town to cease the demolition.
Actress Marilyn Monroe lived in her Brentwood, California home for six months till her loss of life in 1962. (Frank Povolny/Twentieth Century Fox/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Mel Bouzad/Getty Images)
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Councilmember Traci Park, whose district consists of the property, pushed to guard the home and the City Council in the end voted in June 2024 to designate the location a “historic-cultural monument.” The homeowners say that transfer killed their demolition plans and turned a non-public home into what quantities to a public monument with out compensation.
“They couldn’t demolish, couldn’t repair, couldn’t build, and couldn’t sell to someone who could. The City had effectively turned their private property into a public monument without paying for it,” Pacific Legal Foundation stated in a press launch Friday saying it had joined the householders’ authorized battle.
The couple stated they bought the property for over $8 million, and have since absorbed roughly $30,000 in permits, tons of of hundreds of {dollars} for added safety, and thousands and thousands in attorneys’ charges. Their lawsuit additionally claims they pay over $100,000 yearly in property taxesinsurance coverage, and utilities to carry the property, which stays unusable as they supposed.
They say the town’s designation has created a tourist trap and security riskwith a number of break-ins.
The grievance additionally alleges the walled-off property is not viewable from the road so designating the property a landmark “lacked a public purpose.”
“The City took no action regarding the house’s now-alleged ‘historic’ or ‘cultural’ status, essentially admitting it was neither and that no public good would be served by so designating the house or the Property,” the grievance states.
Marilyn Monroe’s pool and yard at her Brentwood home are proven in a photograph taken on July 13, 2010, at Greg Schreiner’s home in Los Angeles. (Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times)
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According to the Pacific Legal Foundation, the couple provided to pay to relocate the home so it may very well be became a public museum, however the metropolis refused.
The grievance says the cultural historic designation, together with its unprofitable situation, leaves the home’s market worth “zero or a negative amount.”
The lawsuit, which names Mayor Karen Bass and the town of Los Angeles as defendants, argues the town’s preservation choice quantities to an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment.
“These homeowners have a simple request: either let them use their own property or compensate them fairly for turning it into a public monument,” stated Pacific Legal Foundation lawyer J. David Breemer. “The Fifth Amendment doesn’t have caveats. If the City of Los Angeles wants a museum, it must pay for one — not force private homeowners to bear the cost and liability.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is a named defendant within the federal courtroom case over the property Marilyn Monroe as soon as owned. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Los Angeles filed a movement to dismiss the case, arguing the homeowners knew earlier than shopping for the home that it had Marilyn Monroe ties, attracted vacationers and will sometime be landmarked. They additionally argue the homeowners haven’t proven a legitimate constitutional declare but and haven’t exhausted all out there metropolis processes for altering the property.
The homeowners beforehand challenged the designation in state courtroom and misplaced on the trial courtroom stage earlier than submitting the federal takings case.
Mayor Karen Bass’ workplace and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office didn’t instantly return Fox News Digital’s request for remark.
