Billionaire bunker. The name itself gives it away, land where billionaires bunk together. This should be the space where the richest feel like uncrowned kings, completely on top of the world. The irony is that being a resident of Indian Creek can actually be a humbling experience, thanks to the club. Indian Creek, an uninhabited, marshy mangrove island until the late 1920s, turned into one of the most sought-after real-estate enclaves, with residents like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Brady, billionaire Carl Icahn (a long-time resident and member of the club), and more. Despite featuring on the world’s rich lists and owning multi-million-dollar homes in this Florida village, there is a good chance they will not be members of the Indian Creek Country Club.
The social anchor of an island that contains only about 41 residential lots, the club boasts an 18-hole golf course and a sprawling Mediterranean-style clubhouse. It is a reminder that there are some things money cannot buy on Billionaire Bunker, and club membership is one of them. Conceived as a winter playground for industrialists and old-money Northeastern families, the residential pieces grew slowly around it, with the new rich seeping in over the decades.
Today, America’s richest municipality, Indian Creek, has only about 84 residents, its own Public Safety Department, and its own boat patrol that constantly circles the island, but not its own automatic club admission. Membership is completely independent of the village’s real estate, and club rules are so strict that members who talk to the media about it risk being shown the door. The Indian Creek Country Club spans roughly 300 acres of manicured turf, palms and landscaped grounds. About half of that is dedicated to golf turf, with 124 bunkers, and the rest is clubhouse grounds and supporting facilities.
But to enjoy a round of golf here you need to do more than simply splurge 100 million dollars on a mansion. There is no waiting list you can buy your way onto. To be considered, a candidate must be formally nominated and recommended by a current member. That is the easy part. The real test is a review by the 15-member board of directors, where at least 75 percent must vote in favor, and where one determined member can quietly sink an application.
The club’s initiation fee is around 200,000 dollars, with annual dues of roughly 20,000 dollars. That is chump change for residents of Billionaire Bunker, but the scenario is based on selection, not status. The club offers 18 holes over 6,662 yards, par 72, designed by William S. Flynn, and is ranked among the top courses in Florida. For now, Indian Creek is said to be at capacity with roughly 300 members. Membership is essentially for life unless one stops paying their dues, which is about the only time the Bezoses and Zuckerbergs of the world may stand a chance.
What does it look like?
The Indian Creek Country Club course opened around 1929, with famed golf architect William Flynn designing the layout and Swiss-born architect Maurice Fatio designing the coral and keystone clubhouse that dominated the bayside skyline for decades. It was built on 45-foot concrete pilings. Fatio reportedly bragged that even if a hurricane washed away the soil, the clubhouse would still be standing on its pilings. In the early days, a small beach even doubled as a seaplane landing strip, and later the club added helicopter landing rules to its already strict handbook.
Inside, it includes ballrooms, a card room, bar and dining rooms with golf-course views. The halls are lined with historical photographs of the club and its members, much like a royal hallway. There is also a pool, tennis courts, a fitness room, spa, marina, and a dedicated bridge room, along with a luxurious restaurant. For most billionaires, their homes have all of this and perhaps more. But the golf club may beat them with one quirky little detail: its resident wildlife. Albino squirrels, pelicans, land crabs, peacocks and iguanas are all part of the club’s Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program, turning this billionaire playground into an unlikely refuge for local creatures too.
