after wattles' death in 1932, his wife and his son continued to live on the property. gurdon wallace wattles jr. negotiated the sale of the residence to the city of los angeles in 1965. in march of that year, the city of los angeles board of recreation and parks commission adopted resolution 5135, designating the wattles estate as an acquisition area, and purchased the property for $1,917,000 in june 1968.