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Finding Neverland

Neverland...

When you hear this name you think of Michael Jackson at once. Those two terms fit together like the moon and the stars. Every child knows that Neverland is Michael Jackson's home and not Peter Pan's.

But how did it all start? When did Michael buy the estate? You can find all the answers here in this article.

How it all started…

It was October 1983 when Michael saw the countryside of Los Olivos for the first time. At that time he shot the video clip "Say Say Say" together with Paul McCartney. He was very taken with the ease, comfort and seclusion and he liked the landscape and its aura very much.
When he found out that the "Sycomore Valley Ranch" is for sale he bought the 2,600 acre estate that lies next to Nancy's and Ronald Reagan's without hesitation in spring 1988. In May 1988 he moved from his parental home in Encino/California to his new home which he called "Neverland Valley Ranch" from now on – following his favourite book "Peter Pan".

Los Olivos

Los Olivos is a small Western-hamlet with 1,000 inhabitants. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley not far from the town Solvang. The country around Los Olivos and Santa Ynez mainly subsists on wine-growing. One of the most famous winemakers is Fess Parker. One of his countless wines:

Los Olivos offers its visitors a gallery, a post office and a store for cowboy-equipment, e.g. special clothes, saddles etc.

Solvang

Solvang with its approx. 5,300 inhabitants is one of the bigger towns of Santa Ynez Valley. The City was founded in 1911 on a former missionary land by a group of Danish pedagogs. The Danish name 'Solvang' means "sunny field".

The city offers Danish bakeries, restaurants and shops. In one of the shops - where Michael also went shopping once - works Michael's aunt Sabin.

All the houses in Solvang are half-timbered ones. That type of construction strongly reminds of Denmark which is why the town is also called "Danish capital of America".

How do you reach the Neverland Ranch?

You take the Highway 101 from Los Angeles and stay there for about 158 kilometres until you reach the gateway "Los Olivos/Cachuma Lake" where you change to federal highway 154. After 47 kilometres you reach the Figueroa Mountain Road where you stay for 10 minutes before you finally reach the Neverland Ranch.

The journey from Los Angeles to Neverland will take you 2 ½ - 3 hours.

The entrance to the Neverland Ranch

For most of the fans the gate to the Neverland Ranch is the terminus of their long journey.

The entrance can be passed by registered guests or employees only; all others have to stay outside. Directly behind the entrance you can find a small house for the security staff.

The little thing that looks like a bigger aviary at first soon reveals itself as a high-tech surveillance possibility for the staff. With cameras in all directions and a special button to open the gate the security staff has total control over all actions.

In front of the gate you can see a thing that looks like a wooden American mail box. If you take a closer look you will find out that it involves the bells. If you ring the bell, you can hear the watchman's voice "Security?".

But even if you do not get the chance to admire the ranch in full detail, you already will be offered a lot of different things at the entrance. You can watch the huge variety of animals such as hamsters, gophers, birds and even cows. All those animals have found their home there – although we are far away from the actual zoo on the Neverland Ranch!

In the evening, when the wind is favourable and when it is very silent, you can hear the music that resounds from the amusement park. Mostly you can hear songs from Disney movies or famous musicals as well as classical music.
Michael himself once said that he loves hearing "People" by Babra Streisand, "Childhood" or "Smile" when he is in the park.

A journey to the land of dreams…

"The scenery was breathtaking. I've never seen such a beautiful estate before. The sees and bridges lie between the most beautiful flowerbeds where classical music sparkles through the warm summer breeze" that is how Adrian Grant, author of the book "Michael Jackson – The Visual Documentary", described his visit at the Neverland Ranch.

The journey already starts at the "Golden Gate" – The golden entrance to the Neverland Ranch. Here you can hear the first tones already and the time seems to stand still.

Gravel walks and some golf-cart paths lead through the green spaces. All around you can see a lot of beautiful and very colorful flowerbeds. From the loudspeakers that resemble rocks you can hear great pieces of music – mostly well-known, great Broadway-melodies. Between the green spaces and flowerbeds a small stream meanders through the landscape. There are many seas where swans gather.

The many bronze-statues that are spread all over the area immediately catch the visitor's eye. There are figures that look like Peter Pan but also children that join hands with each other, children that play the banjo or go fishing. There are many small forests. In one of them you can search for the hidden Indian settlement which is prized highly by all the disadvantaged children that visit the ranch. But let us move on to explore all the other magical spots...
There's a railroad station – let's get on the Neverland steam train and admire the landscape!

We can see Neverland's main house. In front of it you can see a 10 meter-high Mercury-statue balancing on his little toe.

We can see the pavilion, the amusement park with the roller coaster, the auto scooter, the Ferris wheel, the carousel and the cinema. We discover Neverland's video hall with all sorts of flipper automats and video games. But there is much more to discover – come along!

Let us leave the train for a while and let's look at the Neverland zoo. There are so many different animals, monkeys (chimps and orang-utans), giraffes, zebras, lamas, white tigers, lions, elephants and bears. But there are also animals that walk on the grounds freely like the cows and cats.

When you see the beauty of this park you forget everything around you. Almost everything. All the security people remind you WHOSE home you are visiting right now. Although Michael says "feel at home here" you are not totally free on the ranch as the security always watches you. But that is ok. For what did Michael say in an interview once? "Success is like a jail. You don't come out and you can't live a normal life any more. You feel watched all the time. The paparazzi wait in front of my door all day long. They hustle into my life and distort the reality."