Now there's a Neverland perspective

The cover of this month's Architectural Digest features an interesting retrospective commentary on Michael Jackson's famous home, the sprawling Santa Ynez Valley estate so dubbed 'Neverland'. Now, I think most people agree with me when I say that I find the fact that a fifty year old man of unspecified race made himself an eerily child-centric amusement park in which to live somewhat unsettling (at best), however, attached to the article is a web-exclusive: an eight photo slide show that considers some of the ranch's design.

I found that the photo gallery offered some insight into the property's value as an architectural/ design monument. Understandably, when we look at Neverland, we tend focus on the absurd and thus forget the discerning design elements that really make it complete.

Personally, I favor light colors and clean lines in interior spaces, so I find the ranch's wood-panelling (which, by the way, is effing everywhere), a little oppressive to say the least. Despite this, I can certainly appreciate the genius in the house's embellishments. I, for one, would die for the big copper hoods that he has in the kitchen or the old wood sculpture of the roosters he has on display in one of the foyers.

I can't say that I've ever considered the property in that light so I got a kick out of the feature. Let me know what you guys think, I'm always interested in other opinions.

If you missed the link above, check out the architectural photo gallery here.

If you liked that, you should also look into photographer Harry Benson's brief and heartfelt portrait of the King of Pop and his abode here.