Neverland Ranch For Sale: Photos Of The Craziest And Most Bizarre Things On Michael Jackson's Property
Neverland Ranch, the property once owned by late pop singer Michael Jackson, is on the market. The grounds, now known as the Sycamore Valley Ranch, has an asking price of $100 million.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the former amusement park, which includes Jackson’s 12,000 square-foot home and 2,700 acres, will go to the highest bidder. Jackson purchased the property in 1987 for $19.5 million, but defaulted on a $24.5 million loan in 2008. The ranch is currently owned by the Estate of Michael Jackson, with private investment firm Colony Capital maintaining a 12.5 percent stake.
Neverland Ranch was searched by police officers in 2003 when the “Beat It” singer was charged with multiple counts of child molestation. Jackson said that year that he wouldn’t return to the property and no longer considered it a home. The facilities were closed three years later, and most of the staff dismissed. Jackson died in 2009, and the property was neglected. The singer’s daughter, Paris, restored the ranch in 2013, according to the Daily Mail.
Jackson named Neverland Ranch after the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never wanted to grow up. It contained a floral clock, two railroads, bumper cars, a super slide, a roller coaster, an arcade and more. One of the railroads was called the "Neverland Valley Railroad," with a steam locomotive named after his mother, Katherine. The fully-functional zoo contained giraffes, parrots, elephants and alpacas.
Photos taken in July of last year by Vice revealed that many of the property's creepy features still exist -- a water tower with a young boy sitting on a crescent moon, a carousel, a swing ride, the park's train tracks, a cotton candy stand, a fake fortune teller, a full-sized Ferris wheel, a rotating ride known as "the Zipper," and even a red and white-striped circus tent.
The property’s private zoo and amusement park are no longer in operation, but many structures and bizarre statues remain. Check out photos of the Neverland Ranch below:
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