Michael Jackson's first encounter
with the ranch came when he visited Paul McCartney, who was staying there
during the filming of their say, say, say, music video.
Jackson was enamored with the location not only because it was breathtakingly
beautiful, but also refreshingly remote, according to Latoya Jackson.
Michael expressed interest to her
in someday owning the property at the time,
even though Jackson had just completed rebuilding his former family home in his
image, which included a small zoo and Disney inspired attractions.
He had an ambitious vision for the property and wanted to use it as
a retreat from the outside world, a magical place of wonder.
So to what lengths did Michael Jackson go
to in order to construct his fantastical childhood dream?
Here's the detail.
Originally known as
the Zaca Londres Ranch, the massive spread of land spanning across
2700 acres in California's Santa Inez Valley.
The property was purchased by William Boone in 1977,
a successful property developer who was so enchanted with the property that he wanted
to make it the perfect home for him and his family.
He started by renaming the estate
Sycamore Valley Ranch, a name the property has now reverted back
to, drawing on his years of experience building luxurious homes.
Boone enlisted the help of architect Robert Multiverse to design the main
structures on the property, and the two of them spent more than two
years coming up with the perfect plans and designs for the estate.
What had been an undeveloped stretch of cowboy country would soon be replaced
by Boone's dream world, complete with a 13000 square foot main
house and multiple outbuildings, spectacular gardens and a four acre lake
with a five foot waterfall and a stone bridge.
I had a desire to express everything I had learned in 15 years of home building.
The developer said he had considered converting the property to a country club,
but little did he know that the result of his years of experience would soon
become one of the most well known properties in the world.
Initially, the vendors were asking more
than 30 million dollars for the sprawling estate.
However, Jackson's lawyer, John Branca,
was eventually able to negotiate a remarkable discount,
reducing the price down to nineteen point five dollars million.
The property was initially purchased by a trust with Michael Jackson's lawyer
and his accountant as trustees for reasons of privacy.
The arrangement was later rescinded
by Jackson in April 1988, and at the age of 29,
he became the ultimate owner of his dream property in Jackson family style.
His parents were informed he was moving
out the family home while watching Entertainment Tonight.
Jackson immediately renamed the Property Neverland Ranch,
the Fantasy Island, in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grew up.
Neverland was Michael Jackson's attempt to escape and recapture his youth,
as well as indulge in the dream of an ideal childhood.
Jackson then immediately went on a decade long spree, creating his vision,
spending nearly double what he spent purchasing the property.
He ordered the construction of an amusement park,
purchasing 18 rides between 1990 and 1997, including a carousel, a sea dragon,
a wipe out for zipper's the turtle trade, a lollie swing, a samba balloon,
Dumbo's Dragos, a Ferris wheel and a bumper car building with 20 bumper cars.
Some of the rides featured a prominent
label that proclaimed designed especially for Michael Jackson.
He also constructed a 50 seat movie
theater with a snack bar serving popcorn, candy and ice cream.
A zoo was constructed complete with elephants, giraffes, chimpanzees,
crocodiles, snakes, a bear, llamas, a reptile house and exotic birds,
which he had to let go because they sang too loud during the mating season.
Looming large as he entered was a bulky,
turreted railway station Katherine station named for his mother.
The Katherine miniature steam engine was a prominent feature inside the mansion.
It was filled with toys and paintings of the King of Pop himself a life sized
figure of a butler with a tray of cookies in his hand.
Greta Jackson's guests in the enormous kitchen.
There was also a games room with a huge
variety of arcade style video games, a penny press machine and a photo booth.
The library was crammed with bright
leather bound, never open books, which made all of it seem like a set design.
Apart from the main house,
there was a guest house each of the rooms with and with numbered hotel style.
In total, there were 22 buildings on the land.
The annual cost of Neverland was five to six million dollars.
It had more than one hundred and twenty
staff on a one million dollar per year payroll catering to his every whim who all
had to smile as a condition to keep their jobs.
Michael Jackson often opened up the amusement park to groups
of disadvantaged children inside the walls of the movie theater.
Jackson built rooms with hospital beds
for terminally ill and bedridden kids he often invited to his ranch.
Neverland was visited by thousands of fans
when Jackson was alive, many of whom were allowed in the property.
Though it was never open to the public,
charity fundraisers were often held at which guests would be charged
a thousand dollars entrance fee to pass through the gates.
Visitors said that Neverland smelled like
cinnamon rolls, vanilla and candy and sounded like children laughing.
It was just like heaven.
You never wanted to leave.