It's pretty common to still allow private ownership of historic places, but with additional rules associated with them.

The silly part is if this mattered, why wasn't this already part of that? I suppose it's a social inertia of a kind, and this will likely resolve by getting it recognized as a historic building.

If there is a bunch of people who care so much about the house that they would put in effort to stop the demolition then they should purchase it.

It should be illegal for LLCs or trust funds to purchase housing of any kind.

I completely agree that LLCs, REITs, and institutional investors shouldn't be able to buy single family homes (and maybe even duplexes), but I don't know about "housing of any kind."

Large, multi family units like apartment buildings serve a vital need in the affordable housing market. Private individuals who have the capital to purchase a multi million dollar apartment building aren't any more likely to be a conscientious landlord than a corporation. At that point, it all boils down to effective enforcement of tenant rights laws.

That might be a bit too much. LLCs aren’t always evil corporations. For example, I am an LLC and bought my house with the LLC for privacy reasons. I know other people who have done the same. Not always nefarious

What could possibly be so special about this particular house?

I have absolutely no idea. Presumably that's why there is a a motion to initiate consideration of the home for historic preservation. Seems reasonable. And not asinine, on the face of it.

If demolition is even an option, the house itself is likely in bad shape and not livable

Not necessarily. I don't know if this is the case here but some places, people view the property location as more valuable and have too much money so they buy the house/property and then knock the house down and build what they want no matter the condition of the original house.

This happened to someone I know, their house needed a little work but was perfectly fine. The new owner didn't even go inside to look at the house. Made an offer and then tore it down to build something new.

because my feelings

marilyn monroe was such an icon!

I could not give less of a shit about what happens (happened?) to Gandhi's or Einstein's homes unless they're turned into public museums. Sell it, tear it down, whatever. They aren't important places

So old houses are all bad and should be torn down? It's a 2900sq ft single family home that's historic in a single family home zoned district, not a mansion in the middle of a higher density housing zone. It's not going to be torn down to become low income housing, it would probably be torn down to be turned into a modern monstrosity given the 7M+ sale price.