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A California couple is suing Los Angeles after 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 buildings 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 town to cease the demolition.
Actress Marilyn Monroe lived in her Brentwood, Calif., 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 finally 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 asserting it had joined the householders’ authorized combat.
The couple stated they bought the property for over $8 million and have since absorbed roughly $30,000 in permits, lots 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 taxes, insurance coverage and utilities to carry the property, which stays unusable as they supposed.
They say town’s designation has created a tourist trap and security risk with a number of break-ins.
The grievance additionally alleges the walled-off property isn’t 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 July 13, 2010, at Greg Schreiner’s home in Los Angeles. (Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times)
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According to Pacific Legal Foundation, the couple supplied to pay to relocate the home so it could possibly be become a public museum, however the metropolis refused.
The grievance says the cultural-historic designation, together with its unrentable situation, leaves the home’s market worth “zero or a negative amount.”
The lawsuit, which names Mayor Karen Bass and the City of Los Angeles as defendants, argues town’s preservation choice quantities to an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment.
“These homeowners have a straightforward request: either let them use their own property or compensate them fairly for turning it into a public monument,” stated Pacific Legal Foundation legal professional 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 sound constitutional taking declare but and haven’t exhausted all accessible 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.
