Real estate broker

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was falling to pieces after he sold it – but now it’s been completely transformed.

The crumbling Californian property looked miles away from it’s best and was seemingly unsellable as the asking price rapidly tumbled downwards.

But the 2,700-acre ranch near Santa Barbara, famously named after the home of Jackson’s fictional hero Peter Pan, has been given a new lease of life.

When the King of Pop died of acute propofol intoxication in 2009 at the age of 50, there were reports his family wanted to turn the site into a place of pilgrimage for fans.

However, rather than becoming what Graceland is for Elvis it has remained empty for over a decade, although the doors might be about to open.

In December 2020, billionaire businessman Ron Burkle bought Neverland for the cut-price of $22million, which is nearly four times less than it was initially listed for.

At the time, a spokesperson for Burke said the businessman saw the investment as a land banking opportunity.

But now it seems like he has decided to bring it back to its former glory by doing work to restore the grounds and update the old rides.

The property showed plenty of vehicles on site as renovations reportedly began after the 2020 sale, with workers seen driving trucks and carrying tool bags and cables as tarp covered some of the ground.

Incredible new aerial picture show that some of the weird and wonderful former attractions have been resurrected.

During Jackson’s heyday, Neverland was known for it’s over-the-top attractions as there was a working train station, giant statues, Ferris Wheel, roller coaster and swan boats.

They were either removed or fell into a dilapidated state after Jackson’s death, but the fairground area is now looking very pristine.

Although some machines are covered, it is clear that certain stands have been reinstalled in the grounds.

From above, we can see a colourful fun house with obstacles and a long slide named ‘Firehouse’.

There are also two bright swinging carriages for a ride known as ‘Krazy Planes’ – with both attractions situated right next to the railway tracks.

Multiples teepee tents of different colours and sizes have been erected, while some of the huge play areas have been cleaned up.

What looks like bumper cars are covered over by one of the Neverland gardens – spelling out the name of the notorious home despite it being renamed to Sycamore Valley Ranch.

One of the biggest new attractions is called ‘Hook’s Revenge’, a broken pirate ship which is very fitting for the Peter Pan theme.

The famous train station is still there and it looks like one of the original carriages is in storage at the end of the line – but it’s unknown if any of the three railroads still work.

Giant swimming pools that were previously drained appear to be refilled as well – and there is a 14-foot lagoon-style pool and a four-acre lake with waterfall.

The elegant winding pathways and tiles throughout the ranch have been cleaned up and the plants are starting to bloom once more.

There are many buildings on the property but the centre piece is a 12,598-square-foot house had five bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

Other amenities at the ranch include a 50-seat movie theatre, dance studio and tennis court, which also has Neverland branding.

Jackson purchased the Californian property in 1987 for around $19.5million, having first visited four years earlier when he saw Paul McCartney while the Beatles star was filming the ‘Say Say Say’ video.

It’s been the centre of some huge events in the last few decades, with Elizabeth Taylor marrying Larry Fortensky in a lavish ceremony in 1991.

Chat show queen Oprah Winfrey famously interviewed Jackson live in front of 90 million viewers in 1993, and Jackson and then-wife Lisa Marie Presley welcomed children from around the globe ahead of the United Nations’ 50th anniversary in 1995.

However, police raided the property ahead of Jackson’s 2003 child molestation trial. He was acquitted of all charges.

Jackson stated he would never live at the property again as he no longer considered the ranch a home as it had been “too violated” by police during the raid.

He did not return to Neverland and Colony Capital invested $22.5million in 2008, with most sources reporting it had become the majority owner.

Most of the rides and all of the animals were sold off, replaced with a meditative zen garden and a section decorated with Peter Pan.

The estate went up for sale in May 2016 with an initial asking price of a staggering $100 million, but this had fallen to $67 million by February 2017.

In February 2019, the asking price was reduced to $31 million, which was just before the controversial Leaving Neverland documentary aired.

In the documentary, James Safechuck and Wade Robson claimed they were sexually abused as children by Michael while at the Neverland Ranch.

Jackson’s estate has repeatedly denied all allegations in the documentary.

Real estate expert Michael Corbett told Yahoo Entertainment at the time: “It was priced where it was in the beginning to capture a celebrity trophy buyer, someone that was willing to pay the extra money because it was Michael Jackson’s.

“Unfortunately now, since there’s been a lot of negative press, someone is probably not going to purchase it for that reason…now someone’s going to buy it because it’s an amazing piece of real estate.”

It was eventually purchased by billionaire Ron Burkle, a former family friend of Jackson, for just $22 million in December 2020.

The petting zoo now also appears to be brought back and animals have been reintroduced, despite the controversy surrounding the previous ones.

While the Thriller singer portrayed himself as an animal lover, his zoo was like something out of a horror movie.

Jackson had over 50 different species in his collection of at least 130 animals, including six giraffes, eight alligators, a bear, 20 exotic birds, three elephants, seven apes, four tigers, monkeys, snakes and lizards.

He spent millions of dollars acquiring them, but has been described as a “consumer of animals” who “treated them like toys that were easily replaceable and often disposable”.

The fate of some of Jackson’s former pets is shrouded in mystery, scandal or tragedy.

One of his parrots was eaten by a boa constrictor who found a gap in the bird cage, while a llama named Snow White died after being viciously attacked by dogs .

In his ITV documentary last year, host Ross Kemp said: “For a man who spent much of his career accusing anyone who criticised him as ignorant, perhaps Jackson was at best ignorant of his animals best interests or at worse knew how to care for them properly, but in the end chose not to.”

With no official record of where the animals went and staff signing non-disclosure agreements banning them from speaking out, finding out what happened proved a tough task.

Kemp managed to speak to a former zoo trainer at the famous Californian ranch, including Mark Biancaniello, who was forced to retire while sustaining near fatal injuries in a car crash with two tiger cubs in the vehicle with him.

Mark describes his former boss as an exemplary owner of animals who would never abandon his pets, but Jackson left Neverland and all his animals behind four years before he died .

“I think for the people that really knew Michael on a deeper level and saw his connection to the animals and everything there’s no doubt the compassion and the care and the sensitivity that he had towards his animals,” he said.

“I think that’s the biggest legacy in my mind. I know that all the animals got great homes.”

The Estate of Michael Jackson declined to comment, but it has previously been reported that a source close to the family believed the animals were cared for perfectly well.

There was a bear called Balloo, who he bottle fed as an infant and shared a bed with, before he grew to almost 7ft tall while weighing 650 pounds.

It’s been reported that Jackson wanted the bear to perform bizarre tricks that were unnatural and cruel, such as riding in a bumper car.

Primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall, who visited Neverland when Jackson was living there, described the horrors she saw.

“There was a poor little bear in a sort of circular cage crying. It shouldn’t have left its mother,” she said.

“People were bending over to stroke it. It was the most pathetic little thing. The whole situation was horrendous.”

After getting his first elephant, Gypsy, as a gift from actress Elizabeth Taylor, Jackson bought two infant elephants from the Kruger National Park called Ali and Baba from a man convicted of animal cruelty.

Jackson got rid of his other elephant, Ali, because he was told the the cost of upkeep was going to be too great because he was a big bull.

The Bad singer had a number of giraffes over the years, but they all met rather grisly fates.

The law intervened when the animal welfare standards were not up to scratch, as one of the giraffes was illegally imported and their pen was found to be far too small.

Jackson got a bigger enclosure for Jabbar the giraffe, but his inexperience in caring for wild animals casued danger as two of them almost burnt to death in a barn fire .

The singer’s friend and personal portrait artist, David Nordahl, says: “Jabbar was killed in an accident. That was really really really sad the doors that came into the giraffe barn came loose and the door came round and I think broke his neck.”

Four more were auctioned off before Jackson died to a woman named Freddie Hancock and her husband Tommy, who had no previous experience with wild animals.

The most famous of all of Jackson’s animals was definitely Bubbles the chimpanzee.

After buying Bubbles from an animal trainer for $65,000 in the 1980s, the pair became almost inseparable as Jackson took Bubbles on his Bad world tour.

Initially staying in the Jackson family home in LA, Bubbles was then moved to live side-by-side with his famous owner at Neverland.

Bubbles lived a remarkably different life to any other chimp, sleeping in a crib in his owner’s room, eating sweets in the cinema and reportedly throwing his poo around the mansion.

Primatologist Jane Goodall claims Bubbles ‘was hit across the room’ in order to discipline him – and says Jackson had a smile on his face when she showed him videos of primates in lab cages and circuses.

Telling Ross how she reprimanded Jackson about his treatment of animals, Goodall said: “He looked at me and [asked] ‘you wouldn’t approve of a chimp being hit over the head, would you?’ I said, ‘No, Michael, you know I wouldn’t.’

“Bubbles was hit when he did something wrong. Michael said that once he was hit across the room. I said, ‘Well, Michael, did you think that was all right?’ And he said, ‘No, not really.’”

Goodall says her advice can’t have been listened too and Bubbles was moved to a sanctuary in Florida before Jackson died and replaced with an infant chimp, also called Bubbles.