Just east of Los Angeles sits one of the wealthiest cities in America, yet hardly anyone has ever heard of it.
That’s by design, since the millionaires and billionaires that live within the town limits don’t want anyone knowing about their enclave in the San Gabriel Valley, an area that has a bustling population of around 2 million.
Despite what they might have you believe, Bradbury, California, does in fact exist, though it would be a rather boring visit for the average Joe.
There’s no shopping to speak of and there are barely any sidewalks to stroll on. Bradbury is almost entirely comprised of gated sub communities and homeowners associations, SFGate reported.
If you don’t already have a friend that lives there, it’s not wise to go up to someone’s house looking to make some. That’s because the town has an ordinance banning people from walking up to front doors and knocking without permission.
And since its founding in 1957, a time when the suburbs were expanding in Southern California, Bradbury and the residents who live there have said they don’t even want cars passing by to stop for even the briefest moment, urging them to keep driving.
The town is so locked down that most of the public roads that abut its borders are dead ends or run straight into tall, guarded gates with signs that read ‘Royal Oaks’ and ‘Bradbury Estates.’
The landscaping also does quite a bit to send the message that outsiders aren’t welcome, with most homes being shrouded by towering hedgerows and bushy trees.
Bradbury is one of the most exclusive, wealthy communities in California and the United States as a whole
The city sits squarely in the San Gabriel Valley, one of the most populous areas in the United States at about 2 million. Still, it manages to maintain a level of extreme privacy for residents
Bradbury’s 91008 ZIP code, which it shares with the nearby city of Duarte, has the 11th highest average income in California, beating out the likes of Santa Monica, Encino and the coveted 90210 of Beverly Hills.
Beyond the security checkpoints and the foliage lie giant mansions with beautiful pools and neatly manicured lawns. And since they’re on private roads, Google street-view stalking isn’t an option to get a glimpse.
So, ordinary folks have to resort to luxury real estate listings if they want to get a better idea of Bradbury.
Take for example the former home of real estate tycoon Don Abbey, one he had built for himself initially before he listed it in 2012 for $78.8 million.
The 35,000-square-foot property – across its main house and pool house – is a glimmering white masterpiece that sits on a hill, giving it breathtaking ocean views, according to an old listing.
It isn’t a normal mansion, as it has a 2,000-bottle wine cellar, a poker room, and 10 car garage. It also has a massive pool shaped like a cross and a shooting range that Lucy Liu used to frequent, Forbes reported.
With all those perks and more, it sold for $22.5 million in December 2022, according to the Los Angeles County Assessor.
Slightly to the west is the home of Hieu Tai Tran, the owner of the Shun Fat Supermarket chain, which has stores in California, Texas, Nevada and Oregon.
The property has four waterfalls, a tennis court, and a water slide the empties into a pool out on the front lawn.
The most notable recent resident of Bradbury was Lynsi Synder, the owner of In-N-Out. He lived in a 19,000-square-foot home for years before he sold it in 2022.
Pictured: A home on the edge of a cliff in Bradbury
Though there are plenty of mega-mansions, there are also more modest properties that appeal still to high-net-worth individuals but not billionaires. The median listing price for a home in Bradbury is $3.5 million
Though there are plenty of mega-mansions, there are also more modest properties that appeal still to high-net-worth individuals but not billionaires. The median listing price for a home in Bradbury is $3.5 million.
The townsfolk have such deep pockets that former Vice President Kamala Harris visited a mansion in Bradbury to fundraise for Joe Biden ahead of his disaster of a debate with Donald Trump.
She did so for good reason. Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 to win Bradbury, getting a majority of the vote there in 2020.
The town also has a myriad of other draconian ordinances meant to curb any sort of behavior that could be a bother to the residents.
A section on ‘peddlers and solicitors’ that states that ‘no person shall go upon any private premises within the City for the purpose of selling any goods, wares, merchandise, services or other thing of value.’
The city code also says ‘no person shall be in any private house or on any private premises in the City in a state of drunkenness or intoxication to the annoyance of any other person.’
Even profane language is not allowed on any public streets or businesses open to the public.
To cut down even more on possible commotion, teens under 18 cannot be out in public during a school day unless they’re with a parent, have a note from the school or are on their way to a job.
But for the most part, Bradbury keeps its unique form of social cohesion intact by letting as few people in as possible.
