 The iconic estate that the late legend Michael Jackson made his dream property once upon a time looks very different nowadays. Neverland Ranch, as Michael called it, was last sold in 2020 after many years of price adjustments to billionaire Ron Berkel for $22 million. Now the property has a new name and a new owner, but once upon a time, it was a magical compound full of laughter, joy, and a zoo full of animals. When Jackson purchased the ranch back in 1988, it was his goal to create a property unlike any other, and he succeeded. Neverland Ranch once boasted ferris wheels, carousels, tigers, giraffes, elephants, as well as its very own railroad. Of course, the property wasn't always known as Neverland Ranch, and it has quite the history. Originally called the Zacaladeris Ranch, the massive 2,700 acre parcel of land, was purchased by William Boone back in 1977. Back then the land was empty, but in a beautiful location set in Santa Barbara, California, on the edge of Los Padres National Forest. Boone was a successful property developer, and he was so in love with this property that he set out to make it the perfect home base for him and his family. Boone began by renaming the estate the Sycamore Valley Ranch, which is actually a name the property has reverted back to in recent years, in an attempt to shake off the Michael Jackson connection. Drawing on his years of experience building excellent homes, Boone hired architect Robert Altiverse 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 dream estate. What was once an undeveloped piece of country land would soon host Boone's custom home, a 13,000 square foot main mansion, along with multiple outbuildings. He would also add a four acre lake with a stunning five foot waterfall and a stone bridge. At the time Boone said about his property, I had a desire to express everything I had learned in 15 years of home building. At the time Boone didn't know that one day his years of experience would turn this into one of the most famous properties in the world. In 1988 Michael Jackson purchased the property from Boone for $19.5 million and named it Neverland Ranch after Neverland, the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up. Jackson had an ambitious vision for the estate and wanted it to be an escape from the outside world, full of magic and everything you could dream of. He had an ambitious vision for the property and wanted to use it as a retreat from the outside world, a magical world of wonder. During his time here, the King of Pop added quite the mix of details, including mock Victorian architecture and amusement park rides, complete with two railroads and a dream-like railroad station, a roller coaster, ferris wheel, carousel, and even bumper cars. Although Michael hopped around Los Angeles homes and lived in some beautiful places, we can all agree his dream house was his Neverland Ranch and he ended up living on the sprawling property up until 2005. The ranch had a French Normandy style main house which was absolutely beautiful, full of wooden and brick accents as well as a cozy vibe. It's manually 13,000 square feet with six bedrooms and nine baths. Michael had an impressive first floor master suite, complete with not one, but two master baths. The house is nestled between landscaped gardens and a four acre lake with waterfall that Boone built here. Not to mention, there were some amazing mountain views. There were three separate guest homes, a 5,500 square foot movie theater with stage, barns, animal shelter facilities, corrals, and even a maintenance shop. Of course, there was also the unforgettable Disney theme train station. Living here for over 15 years, Michael made this place into something really special, so it's no wonder he blew so much of his fortune on creating it. He had three railroads attached to that iconic train station with a steam locomotive named after his mother Catherine and two coaches. There was another narrow train and a custom made private electric train for Michael's own children. There was also a ferris wheel, carousel, zipper, and octopus, which is the most traumatizing ride in my experience, but to each their own, as well as a pirate ship, wave swinger, roller coaster, superslide, bumper cars, and an arcade, just when you thought I was done. Elsewhere on the property, there was a petting zoo, a dance studio, a 14-foot lagoon-style pool, outdoor barbecue, tennis court, and staff facilities. Bottom line, Michael really put so much work and heart into Neverland to make it his own private Disney world, basically. Despite all of that, after the King of Pop passed away, it had been a hard sell. There are many theories as to why, one of which being the bad press the ranch received at one point, and of course, it's also crazy expensive. It was even listed at one point at as much as $100 million. After many years and many price cuts later, Neverland Ranch, which now went back to its former name of Sycamore Valley Ranch, finally found a buyer in 2020. A former associate of Jackson, billionaire Rob Berkel, spent $22 million for the epic property. Before we look at the final mansion of Michael Jackson in Los Angeles, he also lived in this Las Vegas home from 2007 until the year he died, 2009. This has been dubbed the Thrilla Villa, and it's pretty unique to say the least. It was one of Michael's last known residences. Renting it out for a couple of years with his three children, and most recently, this one was on the market for $9.5 million. The Vegas mansion sat on 1.7 acres of land inside, spending over 16,000 square feet with seven beds and more than 10 back. The estate welcomes you with a massive iron gate and cobblestone paved circular driveway. It's decked out in a posh old world design inside with high ceilings and expansive common areas. A salon features a massive stone fireplace and glass chandelier, while a foyer and bar leads to a courtyard with fountain. The main master suite occupies the entire top floor and still has the original mirrors Michael used to rehearse his famous dances in. Among the many larger-than-life features of the mansion, there's a two-story, 74-seat medieval chapel with hand-painted sky scene and crown of thorns chandelier. Although Michael lived in that Vegas home, he passed away in Los Angeles, and the mansion where he spent his final days was located in Homeby Hills. He was renting this home for several months until his unexpected passing in June 2009. Jackson reportedly passed away from a heart attack after calling his private doctor, Conrad Murray, complaining of dehydration and insomnia on the same night of his death. After the news went public, thousands of people gathered outside of this very house to have a midnight vigil for the star. It was said that Michael was renting this huge mansion for a whopping 100K per month and it was actually built by famous mega mansion developer and father to Gigi and Bella Hadid, Mohamed Hadid. This residence spanned over 17,000 square feet and was built in a French Chateau style. I don't know who needs that much space, but the home boasted seven beds and 13 baths, but considering Michael died here, it also left the place with a pretty dark history. The elegant and sophisticated estate had a grand double height entry with winding staircase and chandelier, wood paneled library with fireplace, home screening room and countless other charming spaces throughout. Not to mention it was complete with an elevator, spa with gym, wine cellar and even a guest house with stained glass doors. Outside on the one acre plus grounds, there was also a pool. Michael stayed here before launching his world tour until his passing in the home's master bedroom. Considering the mansion's eerie history, it was a tough sell, but it ended up selling for $18.1 million in 2012. Now that we've taken a look at the former homes of the late Michael Jackson, including the famous Neverland Ranch, that's gonna bring today's house tour to a close. But before you go, answer this question for me. If you had your own amusement park on your property, what rides or attractions would you need to have? I would love to have a mini petting zoo and maybe some sort of water park, but let me know what you would choose in the comments below. Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow me on Instagram to chat. I'm Kara and if you'd like to check out another tour before you go, then stay tuned for this look into the homes of Janet Jackson. Bye! I separated from my husband. We are in court and the rest is in God's hands. In summer 2022, Janet Jackson offloaded her stylish Manhattan apartment, located more specifically in Central Park West for $8.8 million. While Janet currently spends most of her days living in London, England, she had owned her New York City place for almost 25 years, which offers three beds, 3.5 baths and stunning views of Central Park. Also, Michael and I have dropped our own house tour of our new home that we moved into this year, so go ahead and subscribe to our personal channel if you want to see where we're living and more of what we're up to. In these videos, we don't reveal any addresses, and even though I've done a house tour of my own place, please do not show up at any private residences because it's not safe for anyone. Since the age of 10 years old, it shouldn't come as any surprise to find out that Janet Jackson has lived in some of the nicest homes in the world over the years, everywhere from Malibu, California, to a penthouse in New York City, to a townhouse half the world away in London, England. These days, Janet can be found living in London with her son, Issa. Sticking close by her former husband, billionaire Wissam Almana, whom she met back in 2010 and then divorced a few years ago. Before we look at the lovely New York home Janet sold, we're gonna quickly check in on a couple places that Janet has lived in recent years. After meeting businessman Wissam Almana in 2012, the two were married two years later and eventually had their son, Issa, in January of 2017. A mere three months later, their marriage was over. While still married, Janet and Wissam lived in a swanky Mayfair townhouse located in the heart of London, England. Unfortunately, the only pictures we really have of the place are from when Janet was moving out. Wissam is worth an estimated 820 million pounds and one has to assume that the townhouse they both shared must be in his name and owned by him since Janet was the one that moved out. Well, after moving back stateside for a couple of years, Janet returned to England in 2019 and has reportedly found another townhouse not too far from the home that she shared with Wissam. Much like with her previous townhouse, the only images we have of Janet and this new place are from when she was getting picked up outside of it. As far as how nice this new place looks on the inside, well, we can only guess. But Janet did share a recent photo on social media that shows how she was keeping busy with her son back when the quarantine was going on, building doll houses with him. Like I said, really not all that much to go on, but with a net worth of close to 200 million dollars, I can only imagine that Janet and her baby boy are still living in the very lap of luxury. In August 2022, Janet sold her gorgeous and chic apartment in Manhattan for 8.8 million dollars. She'd owned the condo since 1998 when she purchased it for 2.8 million dollars, and it's located more specifically in the building One Central Park West on the 34th floor with some of the best views in the entire building, overlooking Central Park. The posh apartment building is further attached to the Trump International Hotel, right at Columbus Circle and at the southwest entrance to Central Park. The stylish spread boasted 2,094 square feet living space, 3 bedrooms, and 3.5 baths. It also houses a 28-foot-long L-shaped living and dining room combo area. Janet's apartment offered wide views of Central Park and the city skyline via floor-to-ceiling windows located throughout the entire place. An entry gallery leads to the open living and dining area and elsewhere in the home, you'll find a library with wall of custom millwork, while the unit also boasts 10-foot-high ceilings. You can also see those impressive views of Central Park from the kitchen, where there's also a dining counter that looks right out to the green grounds of the park. And you can also see the towers in billionaire's row from here. For the most part, Janet decorated her space with a semi-opulent and dark-hewed decor to complement the floor-to-ceiling windows with those remarkable views. The kitchen is accessible from the living room and it isn't massive by any means, but it is well-equipped, and boasting a washer and dryer combo stacked in a nearby closet. And then there's that dining area with that view. Building residents can enjoy five-star hotel services like health club access with pool and spa, made-in-valley parking, a business center, and 24-hour room service from a high-priced eatery, Jean-George. Janet loved the sunny apartment, but she hadn't lived there since 2019. Once she spoke about this space to the journal saying, I always treasured my home's wonderful location and the breathtaking views, capture the magic and excitement of New York. Stepping through its threshold instantly made me feel so tranquil and at peace. So many memories. Not too long after picking up that unit, Janet also bought this gorgeous home, just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. The rumor is that Janet actually bought this home for her family, either for her mother or her sister, Rebi, who are both said to reside in the state of Nevada. She purchased this property back in 2002 for around 520K. This home reportedly features 4,636 square feet. Unfortunately, that's about all we really know about the place, and considering it's the home to her family members, it doesn't surprise me all that much. Most celebrities like to keep their family as shielded from the media as possible. In Janet's case, I mean, that's kind of ironic considering how her parents did the exact opposite to her when she was just a child. I guess it's worked out for everyone. Before we wrap up this video, one of the very first homes that Janet ever bought for herself after her career took off was this stunning Malibu Beach front property located on Pacific Coast Highway. She bought this 5,658 square foot home in 1991 for $4.1 million, which I'm pretty sure in today's dollars is like a billion, but I might need someone who's better with numbers to double check that. Janet would hold onto this property for a number of years, selling it in the mid-2000s for $8.5 million, which means that she more than double turned investment in the place. Before moving on from the property, Janet gave an interview with Primetime that offered a brief glimpse of the inside of this home. As you've likely learned from this tour, though, Janet Jackson is very private when it comes to her spaces and home life, so sadly that's all we have to go by. After looking at her Manhattan apartment, which she recently sold, and what we know about her other properties, that'll bring this house tour to a close. But before we go, let me ask you this. Would you trade in life in a condo in Manhattan that went up millions in its value to live across the pond in the UK? I mean, both seem like pretty cool places to live, but let me know your thoughts in the comments down below, as well as what you liked or didn't like about Janet's properties. Otherwise, like, subscribe, and turn on your notifications. My name is Cara the Vampire Slayer. Follow me on Instagram to chat further, and I'll see you all in the next video. Bye!