Nina, who are the motley crue featured in the 2 'home snaps' in your first posting? Any ideas? Are they the pre-cursor to the Osbournes or even the Adaams Family? 

The red sofa was purchased in Mexico weeks before Marilyn died, it arrived a few days after her death and sat in the garage wrapped in plastic ...

I don't agree, I think it's a nice house. Modest by movie standards, perhaps, but it reflects Marilyn's simple tastes. I can't quite imagine her in a Jayne Mansfield-style 'pink palace'.

Marilyn rarely used the pool herself, but she liked having it for her friends to swim in.

Although, when she was married to Arthur, Marilyn had plans for a much grander abode, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. She ditched the idea because it was too expensive, and made renovations to the farmhouse instead.

Do you want to read more about the house?
From Gary Vitacco- Robles' book
Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood Hacienda

Mrs. Murray writes that in late January 1962, a real estate agent suggests a house in Brentwood as he ends his business day. The agent provides directions to a snug 2,300 square foot home at the end of a cul-de-sac named Fifth Helena Drive near San Vincente Boulevard and Carmelina Drive. Brentwood's main street is San Vincente Boulevard, its median lined by huge coral trees. Carmelina bisects San Vincente to the south and Sunset Boulevard in the north. Off winding Carmelina is a succession of short cul-de-sacs known as the numbereed Helenas. In the winter of 1962, Fifth Helena Drive is unmarked. Actually, the short cul-de-sac resembles an alley with two homes at its end. The home for sale at 12305 Helena Drive is on the left, and a two-story home is on the right. Only two other homes share the street, and they face Carmelina Drive.

Sorrounded by a high wall, the three bedroom, two bath home is private and secluded. It features lush gardens, a swimming pool, a small detached guest house, and a garage. The house was built in 1929 on an acre of rolling lawn with a sloping rear view overlooking the valley below. Its Spanish colonial architecture boasts cathedral beamed ceilings, arched doorways, textured adobe stucco walls, and deep-sill Spanish windows. The living room windows boast their own little roofs and iron gratings. Step-up entrances create levels and interesting architectural detailing. Tiles on the front doorsteps bare a coat of arms and the inscription Cursum Perficio, a Latin expression translating to "I have completed my journey." Marilyn will find comfort in the message that foreshadows her death.

Mrs. Murray follows the directions and discovers the L-shaped home tucked behind a large gate and whitewashed brick wall covered by blooming bougainvillea vines. The red barrel tiled roof of the garage is visible above the seven- foot wall. Inside the gate is a red brick driveway in front of a garage. Attached to the garage, on the right, is a guest house. It is separated from the kitchen, in the main house, by a walled garden. The kitchen forms the short leg of the residence's L-shape. The remainder of the main house is perpendicular to the kitchen and set behind a lawn with a flagstone path leading to the front door.

Mrs. Murray waits patiently for the current owners to locate their real estate agent so that she may tour the interior. She hears the cries of a baby and sounds of children playing inside. Once inside, Mrs. Murray steps up from the entryway into a wide living room featuring a fireplace and glass doors opening to the swimming pool. She steps up again through an arched entrance to a hallway to the right of the living room leading to three bedrooms forming an inverted triangle shape. The master bedroom faces the house's front and includeds a kiva fireplace in the corner and a master bath. Behind the master bedroom are two smaller bedrooms adjoined by a bathroom. As many homes built during the Great Depression, closet space is limited. Mrs. Murray notices the interior is brightened by many casement windows and exretior glass doors.

Mrs. Murray continues exploring this charming home and grows excited by it's potential. To the left of the living room is a small dining room sandwiched between a kitchen in front and a sunroom toward the rear. The glass-enclosed sunroom leads to the pool and is marred by an unattractive heating system. Outside, the long, narrow lot bares eucalyptus trees, hillocks of baby's breath, and German moss. A coastal breeze blows from the Pacific Ocean from the west.

Mrs. Murray quickly makes arrangements to secure the key for Marilyn's private viewing while the family is away. Mrs. Murray later remembers Marilyn's first reaction to the home. Marilyn studies and memorizes the home's every detail, brick by brick. She likes that the home has the feel of being lived in by several generations. It's simplicity, privacy and sturdy construction earn Marilyn's approval.

The outdated kitchen and baths are not authentic to the home's architectural motif and require remodeling and new fixtures. Marilyn is immediately inspired to decorate these rooms with bright, colorful Mexican tiles similar to the Greenson' home. She plans to reproduce the warm feeling of her psychiatric's kitchen where she has enjoyed family gatherings and domestic routine. Marilyn sees beyond the contemporary furnishings, unimaginative decor, and unsightly exposed heating system. She envisions the thirty-three year old home restored to it's original, authentic Spanish colonial ambiance. Outside, Marilyn visualizes a wooden platform terrace with seats constructed under a shade tree at the end of the sloped backyard. Marilyn is intrigued and seeks Joe DiMaggio for advice.

Joe DiMaggio accompanies Marilyn and Mrs. Murray to see the home and to offer his impression. Mrs. Murray laters recalls Joe putiing his head down in the car as they drive into the neighborhood. He avoids being recognized by residents and inciting rumors of house hunting with his former wife. The press has speculated over the past year about a reconciliation and remarriage.

After receiving positive feedback from Joe, Marilyn has the neighbors checked and learns one is a university professor. After her death, neighbor Abe Landau will tell an interviewer that the community was excited about Marilyn's presence and watched the studio limousine whisk her down the streets in the mornings.

Other neighbors, the John and Joan Maurcieri family on Dunoon Drive, wil share with Mrs. Murray memories of their famous neighbor's curiousity about them. The back of the Maurcieri home buttresses the rear of Marilyn's property. On the morning of Joan's birthday, the family celebrates by having a brunch made by the young daughters on the patio. They notice Marilyn, in a red kimono, standing on the hill at the edge of her property quietly watching them. The Maurcieri family chooses not to acknowledge her. Embarrassed, Marilyn slowly walks up the hill toward her home. The family will later wish they had asked her to join them.

Another neighbor on Third Helena Drive is Hanna Fenichel, a prominent psychoanalyst active in the Marxist faction of the Psychoanylistic Institute and friend of Dr. Greeson's. The second story of her house overlooks the Fifth Helena Drive cul-de-sac.

Marilyn purchases the home for $77,500 from William and Doris Pagen who, along with their children, have outgrown it. She makes a down payment of $42,500 and qualifies for 15-year mortgage, at six and one-half percent interest, with the City National Bank of Beverly Hills. Marilyn uses as collateral her 1963 deferred salary payment of $100,000 from her 105 share of Some Like It Hot. Monthly payments of $320 begin March 1, 1962. If Marilyn remains in the home and continues the payment at this rate, the mortgage loan will be paid February 1, 1977, when she is 50.

Marilyn's new attorney Milton Rudin, Greenson's brother-in-law, draws up the sales contract. He also transfers Marilyn's professional representation from MCA to his own firm.In her Doheny Drive apartment, Marilyn hesitates signing the escrow papers and excuses herself to the bedroom where she cries. She later explains, "I felt badly because I was buying a house all alone."