Oh, it s something to do on a Saturday, he responds. Today s Sunday, I remind him. We re lined up in front of the residence, at 605 S. Irving Blvd. Mayor Tom Bradley lived here for 16 years, but Mayor Richard Riordan decided to remain in his own not-insubstantial Brentwood home and use Getty House for official functions but first he spiffed it up. He created the private nonprofit Getty House Foundation and appointed his wife, Nancy Daly Riordan, its chairperson.
Tours start every half-hour and are run in relays, with a different docent in each room.
In 1959, Tidewater Realty, the real estate arm of Getty Oil, purchased most of the block for a corporate headquarters that never materialized. In 1975, Getty Oil deeded the house to the city for an official mayoral residence, and two years later, in 1977, Mayor Bradley moved in. The mayoral home, I slowly realize, is now a combination designer showcase and protocol house. Riordan s leaving office, a tourist woman beside me sighs. He was such a good mayor.