Buying Neverland
In March 1988, while he was still on the road, Michael Jackson finalized the purchase of his new home, a twenty-seven-hundred-acre estate in the Santa Ynez Valley then called Sycamore Ranch. He had become enchanted by the ranch when he stayed there during the time he and Paul McCartney filmed the ‘Say, Say, Say’ video in Santa Ynez; Paul had leased the home for the duration of his and his wife Linda's stay.
At Sycamore Ranch, there would be plenty of room for Michael's menagerie, an important consideration, and the location was far enough from Encino to guarantee space between Michael and his pesky family members. The property was owned by developer William Bone, who had spent many years and a fortune building it to his specifications; the main house is thirteen thousand square feet. The asking price was $35 million furnished, or $32.5 million unfurnished. Michael toured the estate by horse-drawn carriage provided by Bone.
John Branca had advised Michael that, from a business standpoint, the ranch was not a good investment. Michael intended offering 50% of the asking price, but even so the re-sale opportunities would be limited: there are not many buyers for a twenty-seven- hundred-acre ranch that costs seventeen million dollars. John wrote Michael a letter and told him that if he really wanted to buy the ranch, he shouldn't do so with any ‘future profit motive’. He felt it would be a more sensible idea to purchase the property that was once used as the estate on
The Beverly Hillbillies
television show. He also suggested that Michael buy the surrounding property, demolish the houses that were there, and then he could have five acres of property to do with what he pleased.
Michael couldn't understand why he should settle for only five acres when he could have almost three thousand. When he used to visit Paul McCartney, he was always impressed with Paul's sumptuous acres and acres of verdant property. ‘My guests expect something grand,’ Michael told John. ‘It's gotta look like I've made it big, becauseI have.’
A difficult and lengthy negotiation with William Bone ensued because John was determined to secure the best possible deal possible for Michael. However, Michael was impatient; he called John three times a day, prodding him on. Finally, Michael decided that John really did not want him to have the property, that his stalling could lose the deal altogether. He became angry. He wanted that estate, and that's all he wanted. He went right off the deep end over it, and reportedly asked another of the attorneys at John's law firm to break into John's office and steal the file on Sycamore Ranch… and then get to work on closing the deal. Of course, the lawyer didn't do it and, in fact, informed John, who was astonished. He telephoned Michael and asked how he could think to do something so terrible.
‘BecauseI think you don't want me to spend too much money,’ Michael said in his own defence. ‘You don't want me to have the ranch.’
John told him he was right, he didn't think Michael should make the purchase. However, he intended to follow Michael's wishes, anyway. He hoped that Michael would never again pull a stunt like that one. John was genuinely hurt by it, but it also showed him how irrational Michael can be at times – not that he needed further proof of this fact.
At the last minute, William Bone began having second thoughts about selling the ranch to Michael. He said that he didn't want to lose his emotional connection to the property; he treasured it that much. More than likely, he realized that he was losing a lot of money and was getting ‘cold feet’ about it. John submitted an offer of fifteen million dollars, which was not accepted. After a series of counteroffers, Michael's final offer of seventeen million dollars was accepted, certainly a let-down for Bone, considering his thirty-five-million-dollar asking price. Why William Bone took such a loss is still an open question, except that he may have just wanted out of Sycamore Ranch. Michael also got all of the furnishings and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century antiques as part of the purchase. A fully stocked wine cellar went along with the deal. Because Bone started causing a fuss – and John knew that if he lost this deal, Michael would become a real liability in his life – he came up with a clause in the sales agreement that allowed Bone to spend one week out of every year at the ranch for the next three years, subject to Michael's schedule. Therefore, Bone wouldn't feel that he was losing the property entirely. The sale was concluded, successfully. The press reported that Michael paid twenty-eight million dollars for the estate, which was fine with Michael, for obvious reasons.
The first thing Michael did was change the name of the ranch to ‘Neverland Valley’, though it is usually called, simply, Neverland. When Michael had to conduct business in Los Angeles, he would stay in a condominium he leased in Westwood, which he called his ‘hide-out’. Otherwise, he would stay at Neverland, and never again at Hayvenhurst.
Leaving his parents' home was obviously a big deal for Michael. He was sad to leave his mother, but eager to view Joseph as someone to whom he no longer had any responsibility. Still, he couldn't actually face them with the news. In fact, he didn't tell them anything about his negotiation for Neverland Valley, nor did he tell them when it was purchased. Katherine and Joseph found out that Michael was leaving Hayvenhurst while watching the American television programme
Entertainment Tonight.
Panicked, Katherine telephoned Marlon to ask him if he knew anything about it. Marlon then called Michael. Michael said it wasn't true.
Apparently, Michael didn't want anyone to know what he was up to, lest they all gang up on him to talk him out of it – which they definitely would have done. The next day, Michael instructed certain employees of his to go to the Encino home and take from it the possessions he now wanted at Neverland. ‘I was waiting for Michael to come to us and say something,’ Joseph said, sadly. ‘But he never did.’
A few weeks later, Michael hosted a housewarming party for his relatives, but he did not invite Joseph or Katherine. ‘That hurt us both,’ Joseph recalled. ‘We'd seen a lot from that boy, but this was really something we couldn't figure out. I don't know why he would be so hurtful to us, and especially to Kate. I couldn't understand it,’ he said.
As it happened, Michael's name was not on the original purchase agreement for the estate. Rather, the agreement was signed by his lawyer, John Branca, and his accountant, Marshall Gelfand, all at Michael's instruction. He had told them that he didn't want anyone to be able to check public records of property ownership and figure out where he lived. Marshall suggested that a trust be set up with himself and John as trustees. Michael owned the trust and could fire both men at any time. The two could do nothing with the property without his permission. To Michael, it was a good idea… but only for a couple of days. He's too insecure, and maybe too paranoid, to allow such a situation to exist very long. It was Bill Bray who had a talk with Michael about the property, stoking the fires. ‘Man, you don't own this place, they do,’ said Bill, being completely unreasonable and naive. ‘You need to check this out, Michael. What's gonna happen if they decide to kick your ass out. What'chu gonna do then, Michael? Huh?’
The next day, Michael called Marshall and demanded to know why he didn't own his own property.
‘But you
do
own it,’ Marshall explained. ‘It's set up as a trust, Michael. It's what you asked for.’
‘Well, I don't like it,’ Michael said, curtly. ‘I think it sounds fishy. Change it. I didn't spend all of this time working on this negotiation to now not own the place. It's
my
house.’
‘Fine, we'll terminate the trust,’ Gelfand responded. ‘It's done. Terminated.’
On 11 April 1988, John Branca and Marshall Gelfand signed individual grant deeds turning over the property to Michael Jackson, thereby dissolving the trust.
Michael hoped for a serene lifestyle in his new, palatial estate. He said he needed space, a place to think, time off after the Bad tour. However, his family now felt that he'd distanced himself from them geographically, as well as emotionally. As much as they missed him, they were also worried about their futures without him. What could the Jacksons do without Michael? Not much. Joseph, Katherine and the brothers were thinking about another reunion tour, and it would only be a matter of time before they approached Michael with the idea. As it would happen, the Victory tour fiasco of 1984 would pale in comparison to what they now had in mind. However, this time Michael would not be quite as accommodating.