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A dispute over “Los Tiempos”

Joseph Handleman, right, and Courtney Callahan are photographed in front of "Los Tiempos," the former home of L.A. Times publisher Norman Chandler and his wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler. When Handleman and Callahan took possession of the Beaux Arts mansion in 2006, they said it was "rotten to the core."

Joseph Handleman, right, and Courtney Callahan are photographed in front of “Los Tiempos,” the former home of L.A. Times publisher Norman Chandler and his wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler. When Handleman and Callahan took possession of the Beaux Arts mansion in 2006, they said it was “rotten to the core.”  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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“Los Tiempos” (The Times), the former home of Times publisher Norman Chandler and his wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler, is the focus of an unseemly dispute involving two house hunters who claim they were swindled into buying the Windsor Square compound for more than $8 million, only to find that it was “rotten to the core,” according to arbitration documents.
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Window view

A view of the swimming pool at the former Chandler command post. Handleman and Callahan say they were swindled into buying the home for more than $8 million.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Among the damage

Courtney Callahan looks at corroded pipes that were found in the home. She and Handleman say they have spent nearly $3 million on repairs, according to arbitration documents.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Green and blue

The swimming pool at Los Tiempos. Handleman and Callahan say they were deceived by a media-savvy designer and his broker acquaintance.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Elegant touches

Handleman and Callahan installed these elaborate bathroom faucets. But they say they were deceived by a media-savvy designer and his broker acquaintance, who used lavish decorations to conceal faulty water pipes, leaky roofs, black mold, raw sewage and dangerous wiring.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

An outside appointment

A sculpture on the grounds of the Windsor Square home.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Interior touches

Antique books and a sculpture of a minstrel.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Not wanting a 'fixer-upper'

Joseph Handleman and Courtney Callahan in a bedroom of their home. They say they recently stopped paying their monthly mortage. “Our family,” Handleman said in court, “has been decimated.”  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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