Neverland Ranch - Michael Jackson Residence

Michael Jackson Residence

Jackson purchased the property from golf course entrepreneur William Bone in 1988 for a sum variously reported to be $16.5 to $30 million. It was Jackson's home, private amusement park and contained a floral clock, numerous statues of children, and a petting zoo. The amusement park included two railroads: one 36" (914 mm) gauge with a steam locomotive (Crown 4-4-0 (2B), built 1973, with two coaches) and the other a 24-inch (610 mm) gauge amusement train ride-type, and also a Ferris wheel, Carousel, Zipper, Octopus, Pirate Ship, Wave Swinger, Super Slide, dragon wagon kiddie roller coaster and bumper cars, and an amusement arcade. Michael Jackson was also an avid art collector. According to Yves Gautier in the book, “Michael Jackson, Backdoor to Neverland”: “Though few know about it, Michael Jackson is a voracious reader and there is a 10,000-volume library in the Neverland Ranch, that focuses on art, psychology and poetry.”

Jackson said in 2003 that he would not return to the property, saying he no longer considered the ranch a home, feeling the 70 police officers had "violated" it in their searches given the fact they did not have a search warrant. In 2006, the facilities were closed and most of the staff were dismissed, with a spokesperson stating that this was the reflection of the fact that Jackson no longer lived there.

Jackson sold this property in November 2008 to Sycamore Valley Ranch Inc, a real estate company that he owned in part.