Billionaire oil heir lists historic Temple of Wings mansion for $5 million

A columned sanctuary overlooking San Francisco Bay is looking for its next owner.

Hidden in the hills of Berkeley, California, this dramatic Romanesque mansion is known as the Temple of Wings and has been owned since 1994 by billionaire oil heir Gordon Getty and his late wife, Ann.

Although it is time to move on, the Temple of Wings will always represent a quiet place where beauty has time to rest before it blossoms, Gordon, 90, whose father was the founder of the Getty, told the Wall Street Journal. Oil Company J. Paul Getty. first reported the $5 million listing.

After Ann’s death in 2020, Gordon sold most of the contents of the important components and without the collection at home, the house seemed ready for a new generation to take over, a Gordon representative told the media.

Completed in 1914 (and rebuilt in 1924 after a fire), the house in the La Loma Park neighborhood was designed for attorney Charles C. Boynton and his wife, dance teacher Florence Treadwell Boynton. A friend of Isadora Duncan and a supporter of the outdoor motherhood movement. Florence’s passion for dance and the outdoors significantly inspired the estate’s design.

(In addition to being called the Temple of the Wings, it is also known as the Boynton House, according to press materials.)

It features three bedrooms, four bathrooms, eight balconies, a library, a den and two entertainment spaces.

In total there is just under 4,000 square feet of interior living space – as well as the defining semi-circular outdoor pavilion with its 16 Corinthian columns, south and east gardens, sweeping views of San Francisco and a three-car driveway. Everything is placed on an area of ​​16,560 square meters.

The house is divided into a north and south wing, with nine sliding glass doors and a pair of double French doors throughout to allow an indoor-outdoor flow.

Joel Goodrich of Coldwell Banker Realty is listing the property with Adrienne Krumins and Anian Tunney of Grubb Co.