Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood Hacienda: The Story of Her Final Months

by Gary Vitacco-Robles

Cursum Perficio is the name of Marilyn Monroe's last home. Cursum Perficio , the book, is author Gary Vitacco-Robles' exploration of Marilyn's last home as a touchstone to her brief and extraordinary life. A definitive testament of Marilyn Monroe's modest nature, simple tastes and spirituality was her selection of a house in which to settle at age 35. The Spanish Colonial hacienda symbolizes Marilyn's unfulfilled dreams and unfinished life. The Latin inscription on the tiles adorning the front doorstep, Cursum Perficio (translating to "My journey ends"), prophesied the screen goddess' death in the home in 1962. Cursum Perficio invites us inside Marilyn's private life through 120 illustrations and previously unpublished photos of her hacienda and its contents. See the interior, Marilyn's art and decorations purchased on a shopping spree in Mexico, and the furniture delivered days before her death. Vitacco-Robles reveals the events during Marilyn's last months, her daily routine, and her random acts of kindness. Cursum Perficio is not a sensational exploitation of Marilyn Monroe but a celebration of the human being behind the legend. It is a rare and refreshing exploration for the most devout fan and an insightful introduction for those just discovering this enduring icon of the Twentieth Century. This expanded second edition contains added chapters and new images by Brandon Heidrick.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

280 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Linda Burnham · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book in that it focusses very much on Marilyn alive in her last months. It is refreshing in this way as it studiously avoids the debate about her cause of death and introduces Marilyn as a woman who was very normal - a sister, friend, stepmother, stepdaughter - as well as an actress who was serious about her craft, had great ideas about her role in her last unfinished film and who was a deep reader and thinker and a humanitarian. The book includes many images of Marilyn's last home as well as the hand picked furnishings and her plans for renovations, in short this is about as close as one can get to Marilyn today. I almost feel as if I have paid her a visit.

[Francis Coco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really interesting! I've always loved Marilyn's house, from the photos I've seen online and it was really cool to have them contained in a book and the pieces explained; where she got them and why. I also really like this Author! I will get his other books as well because he has a unique voice and perspective and his books don't read like all the other MM books .... this book is a must for any Marilyn fan.

[Briana Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Vitacco-Robles does an incredible job with the history of Marilyn's final home, and his illustrations are beautiful. I loved the extra research done even about the time following her death.
The notations are so well done and make the book easy to understand and research further.
A must-read for Marilyn fans.

[Heather Lowry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the book consists of drawings of what her home and furniture looked like. The few chapters there are were very intimate and personal about her last months. It was very different from any of the other books on her I've seen and I really enjoyed it.

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This refreshingly kind and well-researched book discusses the last few months of Marilyn Monroe's life, and the first home she ever owned on her own, the Brentwood hacienda in which her life ended in early August 1962.

It's a much different view from what you might read in other exposes. She was fit, she was happy and she had plenty of plans. She was busily remodeling her new home, and was looking forward to the resumption of filming of Something's Got to Give, and then continuing with other film and theatre projects.

I cannot tell you what a pleasant experience it is to read a book about Marilyn that is free of Kennedys and aluminum-hat conspiracy theories. While it is deflating to think that someone with so much promise and purpose, someone who was larger than life itself, was lost in a very human, accidental way, that's probably the story. The tragedy is in how much she had left to offer, and that's more than enough tragedy to me.

Included in the book are many, many photographs and drawings, not only of the the hacienda then and now, but there are also plans of the house that she and Arthur Miller briefly planned to build with the help of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, but abandoned due to cost. It is well worth reading for an insight into Marilyn's tastes and lifestyle, but also as a primer as to what happened to some of the things she collected in that last summer of her life.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very kind and respectful book about Marilyn in her last months, her last home and exploring the kind, caring, concerned human being behind the glamorous image.
I truly enjoyed this book, seeing Marilyn's furnishings and artwork,hearing about her plans for the home and her future if she had lived.
The only complaints I have is the author didn't address some of the big controversies of her last year, like her rumored affairs with the Kennedy brothers.
Even if these things aren't true at all, it seems strange not to mention it as they are so widely known.
Also strange is the author spends almost no time on her death,referring to it as an accidental overdose and thats it.

I understand her death has been endlessly written about and speculated on but to have it dealt with in a couple of sentences is something I've not seen before.

The thing I enjoyed most are the details about how when Marilyn couldn't sleep or had night terrors she would sometimes light the kiva fireplace in her bedroom and watch old movies on a gold 13 inch tv which I believe was in b/w.To know these touching and very human details about someone who has been gone so long themselves really brought her back to life and made me feel closer to her somehow.
The book is a lovely tribute to Marilyn overall.

[Courtenay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This meticulously researched insight into Marilyn's home and her final months establishes Marilyn not only as a sex symbol but loving friend to many and serious home maker. The photos and artwork enhance Marilyn's efforts to transform her house into her home, thereby transforming her into a "real" person. After reading this book, her untimely death - after all her efforts to have a unique, happy home surrounded by loving friends - strikes me as more tragic. Gary Vitacco-Robles brings Marilyn back to life in 124 pages, reminding us of a life well lived and loved. For those of us who loved and still love Marilyn, her movies and books like this one keep her passionate nature fresh and alive.