If you have $100 million on hand, you can buy a piece of Michael Jackson history and live in it as Neverland Ranch, Jackson’s long-time estate, is on the market for that price.
It’s a massive piece of real estate, although one that comes with more baggage than your typical piece of property. Jackson bought the home in 1987 and lived there until 2005, when his sordid legal issues made staying there untenable for him. At that point, Neverland started to fall apart, but after Jackson’s death, Colony Capital, who bought into the estate when Jackson fell into debt, started rebuilding it, and it’s now ready to hit the market.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Colony Capital has gotten rid of a fair amount of the weird stuff that characterized Jackson’s increasingly bizarre and disconcerting behavior. Case in point, the estate is now called Sycamore Valley Ranch, as opposed to being named after the land in Peter Pan where children never grow up. The amusement park, the petting zoo, and the on-site emergency service for kids are all gone, although Rolling Stone does point out that there is still a llama on the premises. Take note, llama fans. Still, it’s a pretty nice little living situation, what with a six-bedroom main house, a four-bedroom guesthouse, a two-bedroom guesthouse, a basketball court, a tennis court, a 50-seat movie theater, and a decommissioned train station. Plus, that llama. Don’t forget about that llama.
The real estate folks showing the house are being very thorough about the selling process, so Jackson fans can’t just throw on a top hat and monocle and pretend to be a billionaire. However, at some point, somebody is going to own the former Neverland. Time marches on.
(Via Rolling Stone)
