LA stopped a couple from demolishing Marilyn Monroe's home. Now, they're suing

Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times on Feb 3, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — A Brentwood couple is suing the city of Los Angeles and Mayor Karen Bass, claiming their constitutional rights were violated when city officials blocked them from demolishing the home where Marilyn Monroe died in 1962.

In a 37-page complaint that accuses the city of collusion and bias, the lawsuit filed by homeowners Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank claims L.A. "deprived Plaintiffs of their intended demolition of the house and the use and enjoyment of their Property without any actual benefit to the public."

It's yet another chapter in a saga surrounding the fate of the famous property, which kicked off in 2023 when Milstein, a wealthy real estate heiress, and Bank, a reality TV producer with credits including "The Apprentice" and "Survivor," bought the home for $8.35 million. They own the property next door and hoped to tear down Monroe's place to expand their estate.

The pair quickly obtained demolition permits from the Department of Building and Safety, but once their plans became public, an outcry erupted. A legion of historians, Angelenos and Monroe fans claimed the 1920s haunt, where the actor died in 1962, is an indelible piece of the city's history.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents L.A.'s 11th council district where the home is located, said she received hundreds of calls and emails urging her to protect it. In September 2023, she held a press conference dressed as Monroe — bright red lipstick, bobbing blond hair — urging the City Council to declare it a landmark.

The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission started the landmark application process in January 2024, barring the owners from destroying the house in the meantime. L.A. City Council unanimously voted to designate it as a historic cultural monument a few months later, officially saving it from destruction.

It's not the first legal challenge brought by Milstein and Bank. The pair sued the city in 2024, accusing the city of "backdoor machinations" in preserving a house that doesn't deserve to be a historic cultural monument.

An L.A. Superior Court Judge threw out the suit in September 2025, calling it "an ill-disguised motion to win so they can demolish the home."

The latest lawsuit includes a variety of damages, claiming the property's monument status has turned it into a tourist attraction, bringing trespassers that leap over the walls surrounding the property. In November, burglars broke into the home searching for memorabilia, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit accuses the city of taking no efforts to stop trespassers and failing to compensate them for their loss of use and enjoyment of the property. It also notes that the homeowners offered to pay to relocate the home, but the city ignored them.

The feud has stirred up a larger conversation on what exactly is worth protecting in Southern California, a region loaded with architectural marvels and Old Hollywood haunts swirling with celebrity legend and gossip.

Fans claim the house, located on 5th Helena Drive, is too iconic to be torn down. Monroe bought it for $75,000 in 1962 and died there six months later, the only home she ever owned by herself. The phrase "Cursum Perficio" — Latin for "The journey ends here" — was adorned in tile on the front porch, adding to the property's lore.

Milstein and Bank claim it has been remodeled so many times over the years, with 14 different owners and over a dozen renovation permits issued over the last 60 years, that it bears no resemblance to its former self. Some Brentwood locals consider it a nuisance, since fans and tour buses flock to the address for pictures, even though the only thing visible from the street is the privacy wall.

"There is not a single piece of the house that includes any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day at the house, not a piece of furniture, not a paint chip, not a carpet, nothing," their previous lawsuit claimed.

With their latest lawsuit, Milstein and Bank are seeking a court order allowing them to demolish the house and compensation for the decline in property value following the city's decision to declare it a monument.