Built by J. Paul Getty for the dual purpose of housing his antiquities and giving
visitors an idea of what a Roman Villa looked like, the Getty Villa building
recreates the Villa dei Papiri, a first-century Roman country house unearthed at
Herculaneum, buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A. D. 79. This grand
house has only been partly excavated, so in many cases, Getty's architects drew
on details of other houses of the same era.
The Getty Villa closed a year before the new Getty Museum opened, to allow curators to move its holdings to the new facility. Once the move was completed, renovation of the original museum site began. When it was done, the museum had a new entrance, a 450-seat outdoor classical theater, a cafe and several new administrative buildings. Architects Machado and Silvetti's modern designs blend with the villa's Italian style.
Don't be lazy. Walk up the hill from the parking garage if you can, so you can enjoy the gardens and views.
On your way in, you may wonder why the driveway is so rough. It's paved with the same kind of large stones found in the streets of ancient Herculaneum and Pompeii.