Building Neverland

Michael purchased the Sycamore Valley Ranch – which he renamed Neverland in honour of the fantasy island featured in Peter Pan – in 1988, having first encountered it five years earlier when he visited Sir Paul McCartney during the making of the music video for their collaboration Say Say Say.

The California property served as Jackson's home and private amusement park and had its own train station, a Ferris wheel, carousel, roller coaster, bumper cars and an amusement arcade.

Notable events to be held at Neverland include the wedding of the Thriller artist's friend Elizabeth Taylor to her eighth and final husband Larry Fortensky in 1991, as well as Jackson's 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Michael owned Neverland until his death in 2009 and it was later purchased by businessman Ronald Burkle – a friend of the Jackson family – in 2020 for $22 million.