A victory for Marilyn Monroe fans: her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, is now officially landmarked. That’s right, the property where the actress lived and died has been designated a local historic landmark in a unanimous vote by the Los Angeles City Council. This ends a months-long battle to save the Spanish Colonial-style home from demolition.

Given the idolatry that remains intact, even more than 60 years after her death, one would think that the “capital of cinema” would want to preserve the memory of one of its greatest legends, but that’s NOTHING like that. Neighborhood associations and current owners opposed the move. A month ago, the owners filed an injunction against the city, in which they called the now successful attempts to save the home “behind-the-scenes machinations.” The trial is scheduled for August 13.

Although the controversy has seriously threatened the property, which has already undergone alterations, the council voted unanimously in favor of preserving it by a vote of 12 to 0 to add the house to its list of properties considered to be of historical significance, with the support of the City Council and the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission.

Marilyn’s house is now part of a list of about 1,300 sites that Los Angeles has deemed significant to its history and culture, about 444 of which are still private residences, according to the city.

One of the main problems for those who now live in the homes of past stars, in addition to having to carry out structural work but avoid changes, is that it becomes a tourist attraction, with all possible inconveniences from fans wanting to visit, photograph or film. Today the house is hidden by a painted brick wall and is not visible from the street, but it is still a kind of altar, with flowers and gifts left on the doorstep. I understand the inconvenience, but what to do with Marilyn’s legacy?

This is precisely the thinking that prevails among “landmark preservationists,” who prioritize the actress’s memory as a priority factor. After all, she is an essential part of the history of Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Marilyn did not live for long at the address she bought for $75,000 after her separation from Arthur Miller. She moved in the spring of 1962, that is, April in the Northern Hemisphere, and died in August of the same year. However, it was there that she gave her last interview and lived when she was filming Something’s Got to Give, the movie she never completed.

Historians are not sure, but it is estimated that the house was built in 1929 and is located on a dead-end street, which gave her the privacy she sought. Since it was colonial in style, she personally dedicated herself to decorating it, bringing pieces from Mexico and choosing the painted ceramic tiles for the kitchen and bathrooms. And this involvement partly reinforces the argument for preservation, after all, one of the tiles has the prophetic words Cursum Perficio, which in Latin can be loosely translated as “I end the journey”.

The current owners have a different view. They invested more than eight million dollars in the property and, for them, Marilyn chose New York City as her permanent address; the house in Los Angeles was just a place to stay while filming. So much so that it was only there for less than six months, so it would not justify listing it. Furthermore, for decades, there was no argument against the substantial changes made by previous owners.

The current owners’ plans were frustrated because, to carry out the works, they were required to notify the city government and public documents indicated that the house would be demolished. Alternatively, they offered to “relocate” the house to another address and make it accessible to the public, but the Brentwood Community Council, an organization representing about 35,000 people, objected and the battle began.

The goal now is to consider plans to restrict tour buses from accessing the house, but the house itself cannot be altered. Could it become a Graceland?

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