Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch asking price is slashed to $31 million

The price keeps plummeting for Michael Jackson’s famed Neverland Ranch. After listing for $100 million in 2015, the late pop star’s former playground is back on the market for $31 million.

Jackson paid $19.5 million for the iconic estate in the late 1980s, but after the singer defaulted on a loan, real estate investment firm Colony Capital bought it in 2008 for $22.5 million.

Spanning 2,700 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley, the park-like property has recently been rebranded as Sycamore Valley Ranch. A four-hour documentary titled “Leaving Neverland,” which shares the accounts of two men claiming Jackson sexually abused them as children at the home, airs next week on HBO.

A 12,000-square-foot mansion designed by architect Robert Altevers anchors the grounds. Built in the French Normandy style, it holds six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, including a master wing with its own garden.

Nearly two dozen other structures populate the property, including three guesthouses, a movie theater with a stage, a brick train station and equestrian facilities such as barns, animal shelters, corrals and a maintenance shop. Under the train station, colorful shrubs depict a floral clock with the word “Neverland.”

The landscape, which Compass listing agent Kyle Forsyth calls a “naturalist’s paradise,” consists of mountains, tree-covered fields and grassy plains. In addition, there’s a four-acre lake with a waterfall.

Suzanne Perkins, also with Compass, shares the listing with Forsyth.

This marks the third attempt to sell the estate. After asking nine digits four years ago, the ranch was offered at $67 million in 2017.

Jackson was regarded as a global icon during his career, and his album “Thriller” is the best-selling record ever. He died in 2009 at age 50.

jack.flemming@latimes.com | Twitter: @jflem94