World News for Students of English

09-06-2015 15:00

The price tag on Michael Jackson’s old home is certainly a thriller. His Neverland Ranch in California has gone on sale for 100 million dollars.

Now called “Sycamore Valley Ranch”, it no longer features an amusement park or petting zoo. That means you won’t find Bubbles the chimpanzee, but there is still one llama at the property in Santa Barbara.

The estate spans 2,700 acres and was home to the King of Pop for fifteen years. Jackson purchased the ranch in 1987 for 19.5 million dollars. But after financial troubles, he handed over the title to the ranch in 2008 to investment company Colony Capital LLC which held his $23 million loan on the property.

Jackson died from an overdose at the age of 50 in 2009, just months after announcing plans for a residency show of 50 concerts at London’s O2 Arena.

The renovated property features 22 structures, including a six-bedroom main house complete with attached staff quarters, a four-bedroom guesthouse and another two-bedroom guesthouse. There is also a tennis court, basketball court, swimming pool and a 50-seat movie theatre.

The train tracks and station built by Jackson still stand, as does the iconic floral clock spelling out “Neverland”.

Difficult words: thriller (exciting and the title of one of Michael Jackson’s most famous songs), feature (to have), petting zoo (a zoo where visitors may handle and feed the animals), span (to cover an area), quarters (rooms).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com