Marilyn Monroe's home temporarily saved, the fight goes on...

After a tumultuous three days of campaigning Council Woman Traci Park of Los Angeles has passed a temporary stay of demolition of Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood home.

The Councilwoman spoke in a recent press conference that she had been contacted by 'hundreds and hundreds of people from around the world' sharing their concern for the safety of the property once owned and lived in by Marilyn. This helped to convince council members of the historic and cultural relevance of the site and she and her team have been working around the clock to halt the demolition.

The next stage in the preservation of the home is designating it as a Historic and Cultural Monument, in order to halt any future plans to destroy it.

If successful, this could set a precedent for the preservation of other historic landmarks in L.A which are currently unprotected from potential pull down. The area has seen many of its legendary sites already lost, including Schwabs Pharmacy and the homes of other stars from the golden age of Hollywood including Jayne Mansfield's iconic Pink Palace, and the mansion used in the classic film Sunset Boulevard.

It is unbelievable that a place so embedded in the culture that funds and fuels it values its historic landmarks so little.

The huge outpouring of emotional response to the Marilyn Monroe house confirms how precious her legacy is but also the lack of duty of care that should have been there in the first place. I can't help but think that even Marilyn, the most recognisable star of the 20th Century with a thriving fan base, couldn't be considered as legitimate enough for cultural relevance. It mirrors the fact that women's history in general is never taken as seriously or treated with the same reverence as their male counterparts. Perhaps that is why general history is so dominated with men, while women have been creating, supporting, inspiring and existing alongside them since people began preserving stories.

This is certainly a wonderful and uplifting breakthrough in the story of Marilyn's legacy and I am grateful to all the other fans who reached out and to Councilwoman Traci Parks for her efforts. The fight isn't over yet, but as we continue along, let's hold a good thought for Marilyn and champion all the women making history every day.

Petition to stop the demolition of Marilyn Monroe's house

***UPDATE*** since posting this last night, the permit to go ahead with demolition was granted. While this is a devastating piece of news, members across the Marilyn community are doing all they can to prevent the pull down from happening. People with connections and reach are working from all angles and there's still more we can collectively do. 

Council Woman Traci Park of California deals with the district Marilyn's home falls under. She can be reached by email at councilmember.park@lacity.org for people to oppose the permit. If you choose to email her please be respectful and kind as members of Traci's team have already made it clear that they are doing everything they can to save this home.

The petition is also still valid. The link and my original post can be found below:

-

After the dress debacle and the travesty of 'Blonde', there has now been a request for planning permission to demolish Marilyn's house by its current owner in order to build a modern much bigger construction.

Her material and cultural legacy has really taking a beating in the past year and now this could possibly wipe out a location that means so much to so many fans of both Marilyn and pop culture history. Its amazing that we still have this link to her and it never passed my mind that her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive could be destroyed. I mean, she's Marilyn Monroe, she's an icon!

This is the first house she ever owned and marked a turning point in her life where she was finding growth personally and professionally. It is also the place where she died. 

Arguably with the cult around her death being equally as lucrative as the celebration of her life and career, surely this house counts for something? 

There has been a petition set up to try and stop the demolition and turn the home into a Monroe museum akin to Graceland.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about it becoming a museum because of the death aspect. I think it would have to be handled with extreme sensitivity and as a museum focus on her life and successes rather than become a morbid pilgrimage for the general public.  That said, if the petition can do anything to stop the destruction of a cultural landmark and a place that Marilyn was so excited to own and make hers, then I'm all for sharing it.

Please consider adding your name to save a piece of history

https://www.change.org/p/stop-demolition-marilyn-monroe-s-house