Getty House is more than simply the Official Mayoral Residence of Los Angeles and a site for elegant gatherings. It is a house that truly embodies many of the key historical themes that shaped our city.
It is a home built by immigrants, in a city where immigrants have always played a vital role. Its construction was spurred by real estate speculation – in a city consistently defined by rampant real estate pressures. Its location reflected the westward expansion of Los Angeles in the 1920s – shaped by the manifest destiny of Wilshire Boulevard, just a block from the house, which became an entirely new type of linear downtown.
Architecturally, the home was designed in an English Tudor style, epitomizing a Los Angeles domestic architecture that borrowed liberally from other cultures, in an eclectic mix of period revival styles. It is a home with deep roots in Hollywood, with notable residents ranging from the Barrymores to Lee Strasberg – in a city perennially shaped by the entertainment industry.
In later years, the home reflected Los Angeles’ “coming of age” as an international city. When house was transferred to the City of Los Angeles during the two-decade mayoral tenure of Tom Bradley, the Mayor used Getty House as his base to build unprecedented international relationships for Los Angeles, capped by the triumph of the 1984 Olympics. Most recently, the heroic volunteer efforts to restore Getty House mirror the burgeoning movement to preserve Los Angeles’ history and architecture. It is fitting that Los Angeles’ mayoral residence – a place rooted in the past and looking forward to the future – sits within the Windsor Square neighborhood, now one of the city’s 22 Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs), which use historic preservation as an important tool to enhance their communities. Finally, it is equally fitting that the home’s name recognizes the Getty legacy, which continues play a major role in Los Angeles historic preservation.
The J. Paul Getty Trust has entered into a multi-year grant agreement with the City of Los Angeles to make possible “SurveyLA: The Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey.” This ground-breaking project, spearheaded by the city’s Office of Historic Resources, is the first-ever initiative to identify significant historic sites throughout Los Angeles and is the centerpiece of the city’s new comprehensive historic preservation program.
Whether hosting international dignitaries or inquisitive groups of schoolchildren, Los Angeles’ mayoral residence anchors its visitors in our city’s rich history, and we are now fortunate to have an online publication that serves as a valuable guidepost to this past.
