Neverland hits market at $100 million.
The onetime Neverland ranch of the late superstar Michael Jackson outside Santa Barbara is for sale at $100 million.
Now dubbed Sycamore Valley Ranch, the 2,700-acre spread retains the floral clock, railroad tracks and train station that were installed during Jackson’s ownership. Gone are the amusement park rides, Bubbles the chimp and the circus animals.
The pop icon, who got his start with the Motown family group the Jackson Five, had hit albums such as “Thriller.” He bought the property for $19.5 million in the late 1980s from golf course entrepreneur William Bone.
The ranch later became the scene of police investigations after allegations of child molestation arose. Jackson was charged, tried and acquitted in 2005.
The singer was in default on the loan on the ranch when it was purchased by Colony Capital, a private equity firm headed by Thomas J. Barrack Jr., about six years ago for $22.5 million.
The property, in the Santa Ynez Valley community of Los Olivos, is centered on a Normandy-style mansion of 12,000 square feet with six bedrooms and staff quarters. A 50-seat theater, a four-bedroom guesthouse and a twobedroom guesthouse are among nearly two dozen other structures on the estate.
Trails crisscross the site, and thousands of oak trees dot the landscape. A swimming pool and sports courts are also on the grounds.
Potential buyers have been asking to see the property, but not just any billionaire is being allowed in.
“We’re going to be very particular,” said Jeffrey Hyland of Christie’s affiliate Hilton & Hyland, which shares the listing with Sotheby’s International Realty’s Suzanne Perkins and Harry Kolb. “In this case, we’ll only show to those who are super-qualified and that we know have a definite interest in buying.”