If you’ve got a million dollars or more rattling around in your real-estate mad-money jar and you’re looking at the city of Cerritos as a place to settle for a while, you’re probably going to be doing your house-hunting in Shadow Park, a secure 394-house luxury enclave just north of Don Knabe Community Regional Park and south of South Street, between Shoemaker and Bloomfield avenues.
Security is just one of the amenities in the Shadow Park community. There are three entry gates, one with a 24-hour manned gate for visitors to check in and the others electric for residents. That security is augmented by on site patrol, plus, says Realtor Jodilyn Ogawa, of Keller Williams Pacific Estates La Mirada, “the residents here kind of all know each other and they know when something’s not right.”
The neighborhood was planned with high-dollar luxury in mind in 1977 and 1978, and that has been kept up over the decades, says Ogawa, who lives in Shadow Park, as do her parents, who are original owners in the community.
“There are lots of trees here and they take really good care of them, trimming them every year. The streets are extra wide and they’re slurry sealed every few years,” says Ogawa. “They’re the most beautiful streets in the city.”
The monthly HOA for residents in Shadow Park is $234, which covers a lot besides the security and street and tree maintenance. The community has access to a swimming pool and spa, a clubhouse, lighted courts for tennis, basketball and volleyball, a 1.4-mile greenbelt walking path and a picnic area.
There are additional benefits of living in the community, including its proximity to the 56-acre Knabe Park and being a part of the ABC School District, most importantly (for those families that include bright kids) the award-winning 7-12 Whitney High School that is constantly ranked near the top of the state’s and nation’s best high schools by Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report and others.
From a Realtor’s point of view, there’s a big downside to this bucolic and amenity-laden lifestyle, and that’s the fact that people are loath to leave the tree-lined avenues and spacious houses of Shadow Park.
“People don’t like to leave,” said Ogawa. “People really love it here and there are quite a few original owners in the neighborhood.”
So listings are rare and they don’t linger long in the listings. At the end of August, there were only three Shadow Park homes on the market, all over $1 million.
The least expensive is a $1.23 million four-bedroom, 2.5-bath home with 2,287 square feet of living space at 12733 Alconbury St. in a quiet cul-de-sac street. It’s an easy walking distance to the clubhouse and its surrounding amenities.
The formal living room has cathedral ceilings, the family room features a granite fireplace and a wet bar.
The oversize master suite includes a fireplace and a large walk-in closet.
Moving up a notch is a 3,049 square-foot five bedroom, three-bath home on a large, 8,556 square-foot lot at 12967 Moorshire Drive.
Like other homes in the neighborhood, it has a tile roof and formal living and dining rooms along with a family room with a fireplace. There’s also a fireplace in the master suite and a three-car garage.
Topping out the current listings is a 2,562 square-foot four-bedroom home at 12750 Alchester St., listed at $1.458 million.
The home has recently undergone a $300,000 renovation with some lush trimmings including Italian marble, solid wood flooring, wrought iron, chandeliers, custom drapes, crystal inlaid crown moulding and an en suite bathroom with Jacuzzi.
On the rare occasion that a resident of Shadow Park has a hankering to move on, Ogawa is, of course, obliging and will talk them through the sale and into the future. “It’s part of my job to help people to visualize what the next place is going to be for them,” she said. “They want to sell, where do they go next? It’s all about what kind of life you’re looking to live and what you visualize your life to be.”