Getty House, c. 1940s - 1950s, Courtesy of the Lockhart family
Getty House got its start in 1919 when Swedish immigrants named Leta and Paul Paulson purchased an acre of land along the nearby, ever-growing Wilshire Boulevard, in what today is known as Windsor Square. Mr. Paulson had worked at the Portsmouth Hotel (no longer there, it was located on Hill Street near 6th Street by Pershing Square) since age of 18. He eventually became the owner of the hotel cafe, and treated himself and family to their dream home in 1921.
The Paulsons hired the Milwaukee Building Company to build their house in the stately English Tudor style, a popular architectural design at that time. The contract called for a two-story house with four bathrooms and 11 rooms at a cost of $83,000! The company’s resident architects, Mendell Meyer and Gabriel Holler, would later gain fame as the designers of the Egyptian and Chinese theatres on Hollywood Boulevard.
Around 1928, Leslie Lockhart, president of the Rio Grande Oil Company, and his wife Jeanne, bought the house. They added additional rooms and space, giving the house total of 19 rooms, and purchased the lot behind their home for a tennis court. They decorated the inside of the house, beginning with a remodel of the attic to accommodate the couple’s two toddlers. Mr. Lockhart built a basement entertainment room plus a bar and a wine cellar (during prohibition no less). A prominent feature of the house is a hand-carved frieze that depicts Mr. Lockhart playing tennis, golfing, sailing, and hunting. In 1929, the house was featured in Architectural Digest.
The Lockharts also retained the services of noted Southern California landscape a A.E. Hanson. The Arcadian garden he created is a distinguished oasis of sunken pools and lush terraces. Such grand English landscape typifies the upscale homes around Wilshire Boulevard at the time. Although the Lockharts owned the property for 30 years, they lived there for only a short time, renting the house as early as 1930.
As the entertainment industry became increasingly important to Los Angeles, Getty eventually became home to some of the biggest names in Hollywood such as Delores Costello and Lee Strasberg. In early June 1934, Delores Costello rented the house with her two children.
