Villa's Reopening a Low-Key Marvel

The Getty Villa reopened to the public Saturday, a low-key unveiling that nonetheless left visitors marveling -- as much at the beauty of the $275-million transformation of the museum and grounds as at the antiquities collection inside. Despite storms buffeting the J. Paul Getty Trust for more than a year, all was sunny in Pacific Palisades, where trust President Barry Munitz held the door to welcome the first visitors.

"The presentation of the art is already an art. The site is art," said Denise Brkljacic, who with her husband, Predrag, and 38 others in a group from the Fullerton Senior Multi-Service Center, were among the first regular guests to set foot on the grounds since the villa closed in 1997.

Los Angeles police reported no traffic problems, and neighbors, who had fought the project, seemed to agree.

Visitors came, saw and were conquered -- by new architecture, extensive renovations to the old and the splendor of the 64-acre site high above the Pacific. Included are an entry pavilion, a 450-seat outdoor theater, an indoor auditorium, a cafe, research facilities, offices and parking.

The original villa museum, which oil baron J. Paul Getty established in 1974, patterned after the ancient Villa dei Papiri in Italy, has been remodeled, creating more open and light-filled galleries -- 4,800 square feet of them -- showcasing 1,200 of the Getty's 44,000 antiquities.

No one was more enthusiastic than the Paris-born Brkljacic: "I think it's the greatest place on Earth," she said as she stood in the villa atrium, with its placid pool, elaborate floor and gold-festooned ceiling with a skylight open to a patch of pure blue. "It's artistic, fulfilling, peaceful."

Brkljacic had one complaint: Wood-paneled elevator doors were maybe too artistic. "I couldn't find the elevator. It's so discreet, I had to ask." The conveyance opened directly into a small gallery devoted to griffins, the fierce, winged mythic beasts.

Neighbors, who gave up their bid to stop the expansion only after the state Supreme Court refused in 2003 to hear their last appeal, seemed mollified by the Getty's limits on admissions, with staggered arrival times to avoid traffic bottlenecks.

"I don't' think [traffic] was even an issue. I was out walking earlier today and it was absolutely perfect," said Barbara Kohn, a board member of the Pacific View Estates Homeowners Assn., one of the groups that fought the expansion for four years. "Whatever has been planned is working very well. So far, so very good."