Three staircases, three weddings at the Richard Landry-designed Lunada Point home
An aerial view of the Bradford estate showcasing the outdoor bar area, private outdoor master bedroom retreat upstairs and the copper chimney crowns.
Paullee was 15 years old when she was being driven home one night by her friend’s boyfriend in Sacramento when she noticed a handsome boy in the backseat. She learned his name was Ted Bradford and that he attended the same school she did, Hiram Johnson High. Their subsequent on-again, off-again romance led to both attending Sacramento State College. Paullee majored in history, and minored in English.Ted obtained a degree in finance. Next month, the couple will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and 25th year of living on the Peninsula.
The entryway chandelier was designed by architect Richard Landry and hangs below a skylight, traversed with wood beams to soften light.
Ted served as the Chief Investment Officer for CalPers for 12 years before founding Bradford and Marzec in downtown Los Angeles, and moving to Rancho Palos Verdes. Last year, he sold his investment firm, which managed $7.6 billion in institutional assets, according to Bloomberg.com.
The couple chose Rancho Palos Verdes, and purchase a French Countrystyle home on LUnada Point in 1992. The architect was, Richard Landry. Landry is known for designing ultra-luxury homes for clients who include Mark Wahlberg, Rod Stewart, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Bolton and Kenny G. Landry’s Villa del Lago in Malibu, a 23,000 square-foot bluffside mansion was the Robb Report’s Ultimate Home in 2013.
The formal dining room has rosewood floors looks out over the ocean.
The Lunada Point home was a more modest 9,400 square foot, but with a priceless path leading from the backyard, oceanfront bluff, to the tidepools below.
In addition to the tidepool path, Ted said the home’s interior was a major attraction. The separate, his-and-her master bathrooms each have walk in closets. There’s also a full wet bar in the master bedroom and a large, private patio where one can escape with a vodka martini in hand and a book or two.
Instead of one grand staircase, the home has three strategically located staircases.The couple’s three daughters, Holly, Heather and Cassidy, had their weddings at the house and tossed their wedding bouquets from the staircase balconies. Having three staircases, Ted said, is particularly useful when they entertain because caterers can use the staircase off the kitchen, guests inside can use the staircase off the foyer and guests outside can access the game room and bathroom from the staircase joining the backyard to the main house.
The loggia contains ecru colored wrought iron detail within the arches and hand painted fleur de lys on the ceilings.
“There’s a rhythm and a calm even with a house full of people because the design is so well thought out,” he said.
The chandelier in the foyer was designed by Landry to complement the wrought iron design of the staircase. The foyer skylight is traversed by heavy, wood beams that diffuse the natural light. The foyer leads to a step-down, formal dining room with rosewood flooring. French glass doors open to the formally landscaped backyard overlooking the Ocean. A statue of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, presides over the pool and jacuzzi. A fountain features a relief of cherubs, seemingly in rapture.
The living room on the south end of the house (to the left when you enter) has limestone flooring and a honed wood beam ceiling. More French glass doors open to expansive, oceanfront verandas.
To the north (to the right, upon entering) of the dining room is a butler’s pantry and gourmet kitchen with a floor to ceiling wine cellar. Downstairs and closest to the ocean, is the family room with its spectacular views and glowing fireplace.The maids quarters are close to the entrance.
Tide pools and rocky beaches are at the end of a path leading down from the back yard.
The remaining five bedrooms are upstairs, each with its own bathroom. When the Bradfords purchased the house, one of the bedroom’s interior doors had not yet been installed, so the couple converted that room into a game room.
The master suite has protective gargoyles perched outside and there are European style balconies throughout the home.
Paullee taught second grade in Sacramento at a school called Pilgrim School. “When we moved down here, I became a full time mom to three daughters and two cats, and became involved with the Las Madrecitas, the mother and daughter charity. It was a great way to spend time with my children and simultaneously teach them about giving back to the community we love.
Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, presides over the kidney shaped pool.
What they taught her, she said is “the greatest gift a parent can give a child is just to listen.”
“Ted coached the girls soccer teams and being that there was a 10 year age difference between our youngest and our oldest daughter, it seemed like he was always coaching their games.”
“We’ve had over 200 guests here at one time and many family traditions celebrated here,” she said. But now that the children are grown, they will be moving to a smaller home and have listed their Richard Landry home with Gerard Bisignano of Vista Sotheby’s.