When the Richest Man in California Called Sunland Home

George Bernhard followed in the footsteps of his older brother William on his journey from Imperial Germany to San Francisco in 1872. William had arrived years earlier and settled close to Napa. A decade later, William headed south to become one of the Sunland area’s earliest residents, while George stayed back and laid down roots.

In 1880, at the age of 28, George married Philipina Brubaker and just months later, in May of that same year, their first son Theodore was born. The couple became important citizens in their community and went on to have four more children – two boys and two girls. George Jr., born in 1882, was an adventurous young lad. At 16, he asked his parents to visit his uncle William in Los Angeles. They loaded him on a Southern Pacific railcar and he made the long trip to his uncle’s ranch at the west end of the Crescenta Valley.

Not to be outdone, George’s brother Ted soon traveled south to join them both, just in time for the harvest. The two brothers worked hard. They picked grapes – so many grapes – and peaches and plums and berries of all kinds. Ted enjoyed working outside among the vines and in the orchard … so much so that he made a habit of these visits to his uncle William, as often as he could manage.

Although only 19 at the time of his first visit to his uncle’s ranch in 1899, Ted had already begun to lay the foundations of a successful business career in Napa. He had started with retail grocery stores and then bakeries. Next, he entered the retail meat business and then expanded into the slaughtering and shipping business. All through the years, he would often put his business needs aside to make the trip south to Uncle William’s ranch and the harvest.

When Ted was only 22, he became the director of the Crescent Petroleum Company, which brought in the first well at Maricopa, California – eventually becoming one of the state’s biggest producing fields. Other business ventures to come were cattle raising and brokerage, then land speculation. Despite his responsibilities in Napa, Ted continued his escapes to the south whenever he could.

As William approached his 70^th year, young Theodore embarked into the world of banking by purchasing the Napa Savings & Loan Association. This proved to be a very sound investment. Times were good until early March 1934 when Uncle William picked his final fruit. Being that he was a bachelor when he died, his home and property passed to Ted.

Theodore moved to Sunland after his uncle’s death and lived in William’s small cabin until 1940 when he built a much larger home high on the hill at 10400 Sunland Blvd. During this time, Ted’s immense wealth from his many business dealings continued to grow. Some claimed that he had become the wealthiest man in California. He would never say, only claiming, “Being in the 90% income tax bracket was as high as he wanted to go.”

What is quite certain is that Theodore Bernhard was at least one of the wealthiest men in the state. He apparently lived a rather quiet life in his handsome hilltop home as he was rarely seen around town. Self-admittedly, he wasn’t much of a joiner, although he did make rare appearances at Rotary Club events in Sunland-Tujunga and in Crescenta-Cañada.

The fact that he was seldom seen only contributed to his becoming a legendary figure in these parts. I might suggest a possible reason for his solitary ways. His wife Elizabeth passed at the age of 63 in 1950. His two children, Louise and William, passed at the young ages of 39 and 43, respectively. He outlived them all and continued to live in Sunland until his death in June 1969 at the age of 89.