The strange truth about a city for billionaires you've never heard of (2025)

This tiny ‘secret’ California city with just a few hundred residents forbids swearing, gambling and being drunk - and millionaires and billionaires with ‘monster’ mansions flock to live there.

The few hundred well-heeled inhabitants of the City of Bradbury, just two miles square, want to keep their uber-wealthy community an exclusive enclave.

Most people have never heard of the city, located 23 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and ranked by Forbes as one of the most expensive ZIP codes in the country.

For those lucky enough to have such mega-riches, dropping tens of millions of dollars on a Bradbury property is merely the equivalent of ‘tipping a waiter,’ reports one insider.

Bucolic trophy estates on vast lots, dwarfing the homes of some celebrity homes in LA, are hidden from prying eyes in gated communities. Incredible wildlife, including bears and deer, adds to the rustic feel.

Lavish real estate excesses of Bradbury - known as the The City of Rural Tranquility - include a temperature-controlled trout pond and giant swimming pool in the shape of a cross.

‘You get a lot of acreage and the houses are massive,’ realtor Tim Durkovic tells Daily Mail. ‘These are monster homes.’

The area attracts a ‘bunch of international money’ from China, Saudi Arabia and other havens of extreme wealth.

‘You're surrounded by wealth, adds Durkovic. ‘It’s very much a like attracts like mentality. It’s kind of a secret - very, very hush-hush.’

Two-thirds of the homes, with manicured gardens and rolling lawns, are only accessible past watchful guards in gatehouses or private entrances.

Privileged residents seeking privacy prefer to remain under the radar and city dignitaries are specially guarded when it comes to speaking about their wealthy oasis.

According to the most recent figures listed on the U.S. Census Bureau website, Bradbury has a population of 921, with a median age of 54. There are 301 households and 357 homes.

Thirty-four per cent of the population, reports CensusReporter.org, is of Asian descent.

To maintain it’s aura of rarified charm and quell ‘disorderly conduct’, the city enforces a number of ordinances which ban swearing in public, gambling, intoxication - even in privacy of your own wine cellar - and knocking on doors of private homes…assuming you can make it past the security guards.

Gambling is prohibited under Sec. 6.02.030. ‘It shall be unlawful for any person to deal, play, carry on, open or conduct any game or contest played with cards, dice, or any other device, for money, checks, credit or thing of value,’ according to the code.

Profanity is also banned under Sec. 6.02.020. which states, ‘No person shall use vulgar, profane, or indecent language on any public street or other public place or place of business open to public patronage.

And per Sec. 6.02.010., ‘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.’

Under Sec. 6.08.030., ‘exhibiting or brandishing a replica firearm in a rude, angry or threatening manner’ is also illegal.

The city is named after gold and silver mining magnate Louis Bradbury.

The iconic Bradbury Building, opened in 1893 in downtown LA and featured in films such as Blade Runner and Double Indemnity, was named for the mogul.

Bradbury is purely residential with no businesses at all - no grocery stores, gas stations, designer boutiques or fancy coffee shops.

There are no traffic lights or sidewalks. Three-quarters of the mini-city hides behind gates and only a bird’s-eye view of the estates shows the enormity of their immense grandeur.

Crime in Brandbury is almost non-existent. The biggest scandal to hit the community was the 1988 with shooting deaths race-car driver Mickey Thompson and his wife, Trudy, at their home.

In-N-Out Burger chain president Lynsi Snyder - worth a tasty $7.3 billionaccording to Forbes- used to live in Bradbury.

Her home was an immaculate Mediterranean-style estate boasting its own two-hole golf course.

She sold the 19,000-square-foot property for $16.25 million in 2021.

In 2012, Beverly Hills-based realtor Bob Hurwitz listed a stunning eight-acre compound for sale, in the breathtaking Bradbury Estates, for property tycoon Donald Abbey.

The ‘regal masterpiece’ then listed for $78.8 million, has ‘unparalleled city, canyon and ocean views,' according to the Hurwitz's website.

There are seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, six fireplaces, a 2,000-bottle wine cellar and a 10-car garage. The driveway can accommodate ‘multiple limousines.’

The 32,000-square-foot main residence has ‘vaulted 40-foot-high ceilings, domes with hand-painted frescoes and a two-story library.’

There is also a movie theater, 2,000-bottle wine cellar, elevator, and poker room with a bar and built-in humidor.

Hurwitz tells Daily Mail the seller had spent $90M building the estate over an 11 year period - which included $8.5 million alone on a million-gallon trout pond designed and installed by experts from Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

The pond is temperature-controlled to 57 degrees - the ideal temperature for rainbow trout, says Hurwitz.

He recalls that the pool house had a subterranean gun range where Charlie’s Angels actress Lucy Liu and other celebrities would train for their film and television roles.

The property later sold for $22.5 million in 2022, according to the Los Angeles County Assessor.

Another Bradbury resident is Hieu Tai Tran, the owner of the Shun Fat Supermarket chain, which has stores in California, Texas, Nevada and Oregon.

His eye-popping property has four waterfalls, a tennis court, and a water slide that empties into a pool out at the front of the property.

Hurwitz notes that a ‘vast majority’ of owners in the Bradbury are of Chinese origin - and that all potential buyers who were shown the property he marketed were from mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan.

The sole exception was a relative of the Crown Prince from a Middle Eastern country who viewed the mansion on his behalf.

Hurwitz noted one showing in particular involving a relative of the President of China - who had recently spent $20 million on another property in a neighboring area.

He said it took two hours to show the property due to the ‘immense size.’

At one point the small woman - wearing a ‘very large’ diamond on her finger and speaking through a translator - insisted on showing Hurwitz proof that she had enough funds to purchase the home.

The translator pulled up two bank accounts in the woman’s name on her phone - one showed $180 million…and the other $5 billion.

‘I looked at the woman’s agent and we were astounded,’ says Hurwitz. She laughed and said via the translator, “Buying this house is like paying a waiter a tip at a restaurant.”’

A follow-up interaction proves that billionaires like a bargain too. The next day, Hurwitz says, the group met again to discuss a deal and the woman offered $25 million. The sale did not happen.

‘Bears would sometimes be in the giant pond on the property to catch and devour the rainbow trout and the caretaker would have to sometimes drive them off by shooting them with a beanbag (gun),’ says Hurwitz.

He recalls a close-call with one of the apex predators while attempting to show another multi-million dollar listing.

‘I came through the guard gate and was driving the main private road with lush grounds and trees lining it when a large bear bounded out of the brush 20 feet from me and started running alongside my car,’ says Hurwitz.

‘It totally freaked me out as I was in my Mercedes 550SL with the top down and it could have jumped in with me. I floored it and rocketed out leaving the ursine invader in my dust.’

Hurwitz says a ‘fair number of billionaires’ toured the property, including one who was such a big gambler in Las Vegas that his favorite Sin City hotel flew a new Rolls Royce out to him in Shanghai.

Many properties in Bradbury dwarf the LA homes in property portfolios belonging to celebrities and business titans such as Jennifer Aniston (8,500 sq ft), Jeff Bezos (13,600 sq ft), Kim Kardashian (7,450 sq ft), Tom Hanks (14,500 sq ft) and even the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger (14,500 sq ft).

Realtor Durkovic explains that ‘international money (is) being parked there’ in Bradbury.

‘And so a lot of times you see these massive homes that are empty,’ he adds.

He recalls one Chinese owner wishing to sell. ‘The house hadn't been lived in for 15 years. It was a complete dump but it was massive. And it was like $17 million.

‘California real estate is a safe bet for people, especially foreign investors. You know, it's proven over the years to kind of always do really well.’

He says Bradbury’s popularity meant prices weren’t impacted by the 2008 property market crash.

Aside from enjoying the amenities of their luxury homes - including, of course, fly-fishing in your own trout lake - ‘there's nothing to do there’ says Durkovic.

He notes that the elite of Bradbury must visit the neighboring the more blue-collar cities of Duarte and Monrovia to pick up a pint of milk - and it is a 50 mile journey to visit the boutiques of Rodeo Drive.

Attempts by Daily Mail to speak with Bradbury Mayor Dick Hale and Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Bruny about their unique city went unanswered.

‘We’re a very small city,’ City Manager Kevin Kearney told Daily Mail. ‘We don’t comment on things like that.’

Former City Manager Dolly Vollair previously told Los Angeles Times of the gilded enclave’s elite residents, ‘If nobody knew where Bradbury is, they would be thrilled.’

While some city leaders are coy about discussing Bradbury, City Clerk Diane Jensen insisted to Daily Mail, ’We have nothing to hide.’