Neverland, former home of Michael Jackson, on sale for $100M
May 28, 2015, 5:00 PM
FILE - This Dec. 2004 file photo shows, the entrance to pop star Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, Calif. Neverland is going up for sale. The Santa Ynez Valley property that once served as the late pop star's home and personal fantasyland is being listed for sale at $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, May 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Neverland Ranch is up for sale.
The California property that once served as Michael Jackson’s home and personal fantasyland is being listed at $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The 2,700-acre ranch in Santa Ynez Valley features such amenities as a train station, six-bedroom house, 50-seat movie theater and a pair of lakes, It has been in limbo since Jackson’s death in 2009.
Jackson originally paid $19.5 million for the oak- and sycamore-studded property in 1988 and rechristened it Neverland after Peter Pan’s island dwelling. He soon added such over-the-top amenities as a zoo and small amusement park, which have since been removed.
The real estate company Colony Capital LLC bailed out Jackson in 2008 after he defaulted on the $24.5 million that he owed on the property.
Despite rumors after Jackson’s death that the hilly property might be transformed into a Graceland-like homage to the King of Pop, Colony Capital has quietly maintained the ranch located about 150 miles north of Los Angeles.
The estate was built in 1981 by real estate developer William Bone, who called it Sycamore Valley Ranch.
Jackson distanced himself from the ranch after his 2005 acquittal on charges that he molested children at the property. The singer opted to live elsewhere in the world until his death.
Colony Capital spokeswoman Caroline Luz declined to comment about the sale.
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