Neverland Ranch or Neverland Valley Ranch is a property owned by pop musician Michael Jackson. It is named after Neverland, the island in the story Peter Pan. Jackson is said to be attracted to the story with a little Peter that never matures.
Jackson acquired the ranch in 1988. It is at the Figueroa Mountain Road, Los Olivos, Santa Barbara County, California, near Santa Ynez, in the lower foothills of the San Rafael Mountains, and contains (among other things) a zoo and an amusement park. About 30 employees work at the ranch.
Jackson has often entertained children here: groups of children, and also special young friends in the age range between 10 and 14. However, as of early 2005 Jackson is on trial for alleged inappropriate behavior at Neverland towards a boy and his family, see Michael Jackson: 2005 trial.
Special friends - all boys - have included Jordan Chandler, Macaulay Culkin, Wade Robson, Brett Barnes, and Corey Feldman, as well as the accuser in the 2005 trial, and to a lesser extent, his younger brother.
Some former maids said that although Jackson and his guards exercised some control, there was little discipline, somewhat to the maids' dismay, because they had to clean up the mess. For the special friends there were little rules, except safety rules for the amusement rides. Some were allowed to drive the golf carts, some were not. The children were free to take and order candy, drinks, etc., and sleeping hours were not very regular. Kiki Fournier, a former maid, compared the place with Pinocchio's Pleasure Island.
In August 1993 Neverland was searched by police, and again on November 18, 2003. The large number of ca. 70 investigators in the latter search was motivated by the desire to finish within one day, even though there are several large buildings.
In December 2003 Jackson said that after this search it no longer felt like a home, and was now a house he just visits. He lived for some time in Beverly Hills, but as of 2005 seems to live at Neverland again. Groups of children continue to visit the ranch during the trial, but Jackson has little time to meet with them.
Security people are not armed. For some time there was an Office of Special Services (OSS) with armed security personnel. There have been allegations of OSS personnel intimidating other employees.
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