In 1962, Marilyn Monroe bought her only home for $75,000. The Los Angeles house became her final residence and narrowly escaped demolition decades later

Marilyn Monroe bought a modest Spanish Colonial-style house in Los Angeles in 1962 for about $75,000, hoping it would give her a fresh start after the collapse of her marriage to Arthur Miller.

Instead, it became the first and only home she ever owned — and the place where she died just six months later.

Decades after Monroe's death, the Brentwood house nearly disappeared entirely. In 2023, its new owners sought permission to demolish it and incorporate the property into their neighboring estate. A public preservation campaign followed, eventually leading the Los Angeles City Council to designate the house a Historic-Cultural Monument.

The home Marilyn Monroe chose for herself

Built in 1929, the house had white stucco walls, a red-tile roof, wood-beamed ceilings and tiled fireplaces. It included eight rooms, a small guesthouse, a swimming pool and a garden.

Monroe reportedly described it as her “cute little Mexican-style house with eight rooms.”

She personally selected furnishings and other items during trips to Mexico, turning the house into a place that reflected her own tastes rather than a typical Hollywood mansion.

For Monroe, the purchase represented something important: independence.

Her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller had ended, and she was looking for a quieter life away from the pressures of Hollywood. The Brentwood property was reportedly one of the few homes she had chosen entirely for herself.

But she would have very little time there.

On August 5, 1962 — only about six months after buying the house — Monroe was found dead in her bedroom at the age of 36.

The house survived, but its connection to Monroe became harder to see

After her death, the property passed through several owners and underwent renovations over the years.

By 2023, however, the house faced a very different threat.

The property was sold for $8.35 million to neighboring homeowners Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank. The buyers wanted to demolish the house and combine its land with their adjoining estate.

That decision triggered a major preservation fight.

Marilyn Monroe fans, historians and preservationists argued that the house's importance went beyond its architecture. It was the only residence Monroe ever owned and was directly associated with the final months of her life.

The Los Angeles City Council ultimately voted to designate the property a Historic-Cultural Monument, blocking its demolition.

Before the vote, Councilmember Traci Park argued that the city had a chance to preserve a uniquely important part of Los Angeles history.

“We have an opportunity to do something today that should’ve been done 60 years ago.”

She also pointed to the broader importance of preserving sites connected to women in Los Angeles history, noting that less than 3% of the city's historic designations were associated with women's heritage.

The new owners fought back

The homeowners did not accept the designation quietly. They filed a lawsuit challenging the city's decision and argued that the house contained no physical evidence proving Monroe had actually lived there.

Their filing stated:

“There is not a single piece of the house that includes any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day at the house.”

A judge rejected the challenge, describing the lawsuit as an “ill-disguised motion” intended to allow the owners to demolish the property and remove the historic designation.

For now, the house that Monroe bought for $75,000 remains standing.

Before Marilyn Monroe

Long before she became one of Hollywood's most recognizable stars, Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson and endured a difficult childhood.

Her mother, Gladys Baker, worked in the film industry but later suffered a mental breakdown and was institutionalized. Norma Jeane spent much of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages.

At 16, she married her neighbor James Dougherty in June 1942. While Dougherty was serving overseas during World War II, she worked in a factory.

In 1945, she left the factory and began pursuing modeling. Her success eventually opened the door to Hollywood, although her early acting career was far from guaranteed.

She gained attention with roles in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve, both released in 1950, before becoming one of the biggest stars of the 1950s and early 1960s.

By the time she bought the Brentwood house, Monroe had achieved extraordinary fame.

But the property itself was deliberately ordinary.

It wasn't a Hollywood mansion or an extravagant estate. It was a relatively private house that Monroe chose because, for perhaps the first time in her life, it was hers.

And that is ultimately why its survival became so significant.

The house isn't important simply because Marilyn Monroe died there. It represents one of the rare places where the world's most famous Marilyn Monroe and the private Norma Jeane could occupy the same space.