Neverland Ranch
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| ] Map of Neverland Ranch | |
| Location: | Figueroa Mountain Road, about five miles (8 km) north of unincorporated Los Olivos, Santa Barbara County, California |
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| Size: | 2,538 acres (10 km²) |
| Employees: | Approximately 30 |
| Attractions: | zoo, amusement park including a railway, video arcade, and Golf carts. |
| Acquisition date: | 1988 |
Neverland Ranch, or Neverland Valley Ranch, is a California property acquired by owned by American pop musician Michael Jackson in 1988. It is named after Neverland, the fictional island in the story Peter Pan.
Location
Sitting in the lower foothills of the San Rafael Mountains, Neverland is located on Figueroa Mountain Road, about five miles (8 km) north of unincorporated Los Olivos, Santa Barbara County, California (about eight miles north of the town of Santa Ynez).
Size and Contents
The total size of the ranch is 2,538 acres (10 km²), and about 30 employees work at the ranch. Neverland contains (among other things) a zoo, an amusement park including a railway, and a video arcade. Golf carts provide transportation and fun rides.
Security
Currently, security at the ranch is unarmed. However, there was an Office of Special Services (OSS) with armed security personnel. There have been allegations of OSS personnel intimidating other employees[citation needed].
Visitors
Jackson has often entertained children at Neverland, including several young boys between 10 and 14 years old with whom Jackson appeared to be very close. Visitors have included Jordan Chandler (accused Jackson of sexual molestation in 1993), Macaulay Culkin, Wade Robson, Brett Barnes, and Corey Feldman.
Discipline
Some former maids have claimed that there has been little discipline at Neverland Ranch. Jackson's young friends had few rules and were allowed to go about Neverland at will. The children were free to eat whatever and whenever they wanted and sleeping hours were not very regular. Kiki Fournier, a former maid, compared Neverland to Pinocchio's Pleasure Island[citation needed].
Accusations of Impropriety
In both 1993 and 2003, Jackson was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior towards young boys who had spent a great deal of time at Neverland. These accusations resulted in police searches of Neverland. The 1993 incident was settled outside of court, but the 2003 incident did lead to a trial in which Jackson was found not guilty on all charges.
Jackson's Residence at Neverland
Originally, Jackson lived at Neverland. After one of the police searches, however, Jackson said that Neverland no longer felt like a home and was now a house he just "visits." As a result, he moved to Beverly Hills, but returned to Neverland in late 2004. According to a Jackson spokeswoman, groups of children continued to visit the ranch during the 2005 trial, but Jackson had little time to meet with them. After the trial ended in June 2005, Michael Jackson made his primary residence in Bahrain.
Speculation about Neverland
Although the animals overrunning Neverland have been moved out, there appears to be little money for repairs[citation needed]. As Michael Jackson allegedly has a large debt, some speculate he has plans to sell Neverland and move to Europe. A Jackson spokesman told a German newspaper that Michael may build a Disneyland style home, near Berlin, based on the German fairytale castle Neuschwanstein. [1] However, Jackson's actual spokesperson, Raymone Bain, denied all those reports, and ridiculed the idea of selling Neverland, saying the singer's assets are valued at hundreds of millions of dollars more than his liabilities.
In early 2004, news program Entertainment Tonight estimated Neverland Ranch to be valued at approximately $12,000,000.
