Posted 25 декабря 2020, 11:32
Published 25 декабря 2020, 11:32
Modified 24 декабря 2022, 22:37
Updated 24 декабря 2022, 22:37
In California, the Neverland ranch, where Michael Jackson lived from 1987 to 2009, the year of his death, was sold, according to the Guardian. The new owner, billionaire investor Ron Burkle, got the property for $ 22 million - less than a quarter of the original price of $ 100 million. Burkle is an acquaintance of the late pop star and has consulted Jackson on business matters in his later years. Los Angeles real estate agents, privy to the details of the deal, believe that, even with the estate's infamy and the fact that the interiors of the 1982 home are outdated, the purchase is more of a theft.
The King of Pop settled on a 2,698-acre ranch in 1987 at the height of his fame and lived here until June 2009. He died of a drug overdose in his other possession, in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, but the Neverland estate is known more, including because it was featured in a sensational case in the 1990s. Jackson was accused of seducing teenagers by transforming the ranch into a kind of fantasy world, against which no child could resist. Neverland had an amusement park, a children's railway, a zoo with orangutans, and even an elephant donated by Elizabeth Taylor.
As stated in the property description, Sycamore Valley Ranch, aka Neverland, includes a 12,000 square foot French Norman mansion and “is the perfect retreat nestled between landscaped gardens and a 4-acre lake with beautiful pastoral views. from the south side and a majestic view of the mountains from the north”. The property also includes “an extensive indoor outdoor BBQ area ideal for entertainment and adjacent to the pool, pool house and tennis court”, three separate guest houses, a 5,500 square foot cinema with stage, barns, animal shelter, corrals for livestock and a repair shop. Having bought the estate, Michael Jackson broke a flower clock at the gate with the inscription Neverland, referring to "Peter Pan". After the death of the artist, the site was renamed "Sycamore Valley Ranch", and the attractions were dismantled.