The half-century-long saga of Rio Bravo Country Club — once a favored retreat for elites — has taken yet another, seemingly darker, turn.

The country club, situated on the doorstep of the southern Sierra Nevada next to the banks of the Kern River, was purchased in late 2023 by Jeremy and Kim Willer, a married Bakersfield couple who initially promised big improvements on the property’s massive, and long-neglected, footprint. 

The Willers’ Rio Bravo dream, however, gradually turned into a drama-fueled nightmare. And in January, the club closed its doors in the weeks following the couple’s drawn-out public feud, which culminated in a barrage of allegations and a late-December divorce filing.

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Rio Bravo has made headlines since its inception in the mid-1970s, when it was designed as a high-end retreat just 11 miles northeast of downtown Bakersfield. Due to its striking topography, remote feel and ahead-of-its-time, eco-friendly golf course design from notable architect Robert Muir Graves, the club instantly seemed like a found paradise unlike any other in California. 

A view from hole 11 at the Rio Bravo Country Club near Bakersfield, Calif. 

But this Central Valley Eden didn’t last long before troubled times befell it, starting with its socialite founder declaring bankruptcy. And the cursed narrative seemed to do nothing but follow a series of failed owners and ownership groups starting in the mid-1980s. 

Don't let Google decide who you trust.

Most recently, the property was listed for sale for $4.9 million in 2022. The low price included the golf course, the clubhouse and a parcel zoned for 22 developable lots. “The truth is if you bought it for the acreage alone, it’s — no pun intended — it’s dirt cheap,” John Willingham, the property’s listing agent, told SFGATE in July 2022. “You can’t buy subdivision land anywhere near that price.”

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There was also a notable history........

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