A Billionaire’s Greco-Roman Folly Overlooking San Francisco Bay Heads to Market for $5 Million

From the Shattuck Hotel to the Tupper & Reed Building, California’s popular college town of Berkeley is rife with historic landmarks. Another is an epic Greco-Roman style villa, dubbed the Temple of Wings, long owned by oil tycoon J. Paul Getty’s billionaire fourth son, Gordon Getty. Now coming to market for $5 million, the larger-than-life estate has one hell of a history.

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Built in the 1910s for attorney Charles C. Boynton and his wife, Florence Treadwell Boynton, the three-bedroom home is fronted by 16 Corinthian columns, measures about 4,000 square feet, and overlooks San Francisco Bay from his hillside perch. Mrs. Boynton enjoyed open-air spaces, as they provided benefits to children. Choreographer Isadora Duncan, a childhood friend of Florence, also taught movement classes at the temple, according to the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.

The grandiose home was originally designed by architect Bernard Maybeck and completed by A. Randolph Monroe, the city of Berkeley confirms. The villa was later remodeled after being destroyed by a fire in 1923. It was then passed down through several generations, according to the Wall Street Journal , before it was purchased by Getty and his wife Ann Getty in 1994. The residence went on to become a “personal oasis” for the couple, who lived primarily in San Francisco and used it to host occasional parties and charitable events.

Over the years, the duo completed major renovations of the structure, enclosing it, adding interior stairways, and restoring most of the stone and woodwork throughout. A double stone staircase in the open-air courtyard leads to a grand semicircular pavilion. On the north side are formal living and dining rooms, as well as an entertainment space with an original beamed ceiling displaying frescoes and a fireplace. A lavish bedroom suite sits a floor above with a trio of balconies, a skylight, and a wood-paneled ensuite bath that features a fireplace.

Another living room with stone and shell flooring is located in the south wing. Glass pocket doors around the room transform it into an indoor-outdoor space and flood it with natural light. Upstairs, you’ll find a wet bar and two more bedrooms for overnight guests. Like much of the property, a large terrace is surrounded by lush greenery with views of the cityscape below.

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Ann died in 2020, prompting Gordon to sell the contents of their homes for charitable causes, his representatives say. The Getty family is known for its art collection, plus associations with the Getty Center and Getty Villa museums throughout L.A. A work from their personal collection named A Coin of Vantage by Lawrence Alma-Tadema sold for around $7 million at Christie’s. “Although it is time to move on, the Temple of Wings will always represent a quiet place where beauty has time to rest before blooming,” Gordon, 90, says in a statement.

Getty, a classical composer as well as a businessman and heir to one of the U.S.’s most illustrious families, remains the owner of a pale yellow mansion along one of the finest blocks in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights, where he was recently interviewed and photographed at 90 years old for the Nob Hill Gazette.

For more details on the Temple of Wings, contact Joel Goodrich of Coldwell Banker Realty, who is co-listing the property with Adrienne Krumins and Anian Tunney of The Grubb Company.

Click here for more photos of the Temple of Wings.

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