Getty family dynasty lists Berkeley CA “Greek temple” home for $5M

Gordon Getty – the 90-year-old descendant of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty – is parting ways with his beloved Berkeley, California, mansion known as Temple of Wings. 

The property is listed for sale for $5 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Getty, who owned the property for decades with his late wife Ann, said in a statement that the Berkeley landmark represents “a quiet place where beauty has time to rest before blooming.”  Ann passed away in 2020. 

Aside from the 16 Corinthian columns, the Greco-Roman villa may be more understated than one might expect of a billionaire family’s home. 

The house is 4,000 square feet with three bedrooms and a double stone staircase in the entryway that leads to a semicircular entertaining pavilion and lawns. 

The house, originally designed for attorney Charles C. Boynton and his wife Florence Treadwell Boynton, is a landmark, according to the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. 

The original architect was Bernard Maybeck, but ultimately completed by A. Randolph Moore. The house was built in the 1910s and was partially destroyed by a fire in 1923. 

Ms. Boynton was a proponent of “open-air motherhood,” which emphasized outdoor play for children. The walls were initially replaced with canvas. The space was also designed to accommodate a dance studio for Ms. Boynton, a teacher of modern and contemporary dance.

After being in the Boynton family for generations, the Getty dynasty acquired the property in the 1990s. They enclosed the open-air concept with a major restoration that included installing interior stairways and restoring stone and woodwork. 

The house is also divided into two wings, with the north wing consisting of open living, dining and entertainment space. The primary bedroom upstairs has three balconies and views of the San Francisco Bay. 

The south wing has a living room with stone and shell flooring and a fireplace, with two bedrooms upstairs as well as a wet bar and skylight. 

The Gettys amassed an impressive art collection and furnishings in the home. Gordon has sold some of the contents of the home since his wife’s passing, including Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s painting “A Coign of Vantage” for $7 million at a Christie’s auction. 

Gordon’s representative said the home is ready for a new generation to take over. 

Gordon still owns a home in the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco. 

— Christina Previte

Read more

Residential

Los Angeles

Brad Pitt buys mid-century showpiece in Los Feliz from Aileen Getty

Popular

Los Angeles

Getty heir relists Montage Hotel condo for $24.5M

Residential

San Francisco

Berkeley could become state’s first city where homeowners sell ADUs