Bank looks to unload Donald Abbey’s Bradbury estate for half the price

The massive Bradbury Estate compound formerly owned by commercial real estate tycoon Don Abbey is back on the market for $39.99 million, just over half its original $78.8 million asking price.

Abbey reportedly turned over the keys last year to his lender, a subsidiary of Bank of America, after defaulting on more than $32 million in loans attached to the compound. The San Gabriel Valley home, one of the most ostentatious in Los Angeles, has now been listed for sale by the bank.

Abbey spent 18 years and more than $200 million building both the Bradbury compound and another mansion in Shelter Island, Montana before running into financial difficulties, according to previous reports.

The Bliss Canyon Road property

The 47,182-square-foot Bliss Canyon Road property has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms and a slew of luxury amenities, including an infinity-edge pool, a 10-car garage, a 3-D theater, a 2,000-bottle wine cellar, a poker lounge, a temperature-controlled trout pond with a two-story waterfall, a subterranean firing range and an oak-paneled elevator, according to the listing.

Abbey was not immediately available for comment, but listing agent Josh Altman of Douglas Elliman said that, this time, the property is priced right.

“We priced it to sell this time around,” he said. “We know what’s going on and how the market is working right now, and we think this should sell pretty close to ask. There aren’t many opportunities to get 40,000 square feet on 10 acres with your own trout pond to go fishing in.”

Altman said he expects the buyer to come from abroad.

Abbey founded the Abbey Company, which acquires multi-tenant commercial properties in Southern California, in 1990.