Marilyn Monroe's Home Declared Historic Landmark Debarring Demolition

Monroe bought the 3,000-square-foot single-story hacienda in 1962 just after her divorce from playwright Arthur Miller

The Los Angeles home where Marilyn Monroe died was declared a historic landmark on Wednesday, thwarting plans by its current owners to demolish the property.

The house was home to the "Some Like It Hot" screen siren for the final six months of her life up to her death from a drug overdose in 1962.

More than half a century on, Monroe remains one of the most beloved figures in US pop culture, and fans as well as conservationists have closely followed a row over the future of the home.