More than 50 years ago, J. Paul Getty purchased 64 acres of oceanside property in Malibu to house his art collection. In the early 1970s, he began building a Roman-style villa to house his trove of Greek and Roman artifacts. Talk about house-proud.

The Getty Villa closed its doors in 1997 for an obligatory face-lift (this is the 'Bu) just as its panoramic counterpart, The Getty Center, opened to the public. After going under the Exacto knife of architecture firm Machado and Silvetti, the Villa returned in top form, the perfect combination of old-world grandeur and contemporary innovation. Addendums to the renovated site include a half-moon-shaped outdoor classical theater (don't call it an amphitheater—those span 360 degrees), scientific laboratories for state-of-the-art conservation, touch-screen computer guides, an interactive room for children, and six additional galleries for rotating exhibitions. The new spaces join the Getty's 23 existing galleries (all housed in the rustic-toned villa), which are now organized according to theme. Visitors can peruse orange and black terracotta jars depicting the triumphs of Herakles as well as marble statues dedicated to classical deities. For those who aren't avid History Channel watchers, the "Men in Antiquity" room contains gnarly armor and some rather racy objects—let's just say there's a portrayal of a "professional entertainer" who's quite "professional," to say the least. The ancient Roman garden recreated outside is just as beautiful as the wide, blue Pacific that borders it. The villa's outdoor peristyles feature pools of water, replicas of ancient statuary (doused with something resembling auto paint to protect them from the elements), colorful murals, bright marble flooring and plants native to the ancient Mediterranean. —Elisa Jacobs