On June 25, 2009, the whole world was in the shocking state as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson took his last breath and passed away from this mortal world. Behind left were his family, his music legacy, and his property. As we have already been updating you with the current news on Jackson’s kids and family and his career is still so prominent in the eyes of the generation, we feel that we also need to check out what happened to Michael’s home, the Neverland Valley Ranch? But first, let us tell you some background of this grand location.
Michael Jackson bought Neverland in 1987 against USD 19.5 million and named it as ‘Neverland’ as he took inspiration from a fictional character ‘Peter Pan’ – the boy who wouldn’t grow up. Located in Los Olivos, California, on the edge of Los Padres National Forest, the 2700 acre Neverland Valley Ranch used to be the residence of Michael Jackson back in 1988 for more than fifteen years of his life. It includes a lake, a French-Normandy style residence, a movie theater, guest houses, a pool, staff facilities, a dance studio, and a train station of Disney theme, everything that a person dreams for. It also had an amusement park and lots of animals.
Jackson used to have lots of events and used to throw lots of parties in Neverland until the time went dark for him as he faced allegations of sexual abuse to a child in 1993. Michael spent a huge amount of money to defend himself in contradiction to those claims and lawsuits ultimately contributing to his debt.
In 2003, MJ faced a financial crisis with a 70 million USD bank loan and he didn’t have enough bank balance to repay it. At that point in time, Jackson knew that now is the time for him to say goodbye to his beloved fantasy and left Neverland forever till his last moments, maybe making it a house not a home for the people who will ever live there again. After being a loan defaulter, Michael entered his home into an ownership agreement with an American International Investment Company named Colony Capital which bought Neverland in 2008 against USD 23.5 million, a year before the King of Pop passed away and the named was changed to “Sycamore Valley Ranch”. Also, Colony Capital made some changes in the location by turning the amusement park into a meditative ‘Zen Garden’
After Jackson’s death in 2009, the investment firm spent millions of dollars on the restoration and maintenance of Neverland. In 2015, the property was put up to be sold for USD 100 million but couldn’t be sold and in 2019 the price last for USD 31 million. For many reasons, the property wasn’t sold. One of the reasons was the unappealing location, miles away from Los Angeles and Los Olivos. The other reason was the negative image it left related to the sexual abuse allegations. Also due to the zoning laws in the property’s remote location, full ownership can’t be bought.
It has been said and observed as well that Neverland has now become nothing but a haunted place where no one goes and that can’t be turned into a money-making attraction. The world will remember nothing or no one but Michael Jackson, whenever the name of Neverland appears in the news or we ever think of it someday.
Here’s abandoned Neverland ranch recent photos:
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