People: Looking for some unreal estate?
Want Michael Jackson‘s merry-go-round? How about his locomotive, or his curtains?
Those items and more could hit the auction block next month as the pop star’s Neverland Ranch will be put up for public sale unless he pays the more than $24 million he still owes on the property.
Financial Title Co. filed the notice of trustee’s sale with Santa Barbara County Superior Court, setting the auction date for March 19.
If the property does go to auction, the initial asking price could be higher than the $24.5 million Jackson owes because of interest due and other costs, according to the filing.
Also going up for sale would be all the home’s furnishings and items on the property, according to the filing.
The reclusive star no longer lives at the famous, 2,500-acre spread in Los Olivos, a popular tourist spot northwest of Santa Barbara known for its wineries.
He has been mostly residing abroad since his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges, although he has spent time in Las Vegas as he tries to stage his musical comeback.
A-listing to D-listing
In other celebrity real estate news, designer Tommy Hilfiger has put his Greenwich, Conn., estate – including a swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts and a 2,000-bottle wine cellar – on the market for a cool $28 million.
And former Penthouse pet Lisa Ann Taylor, charged with running a brothel out of her million-dollar Atlanta mansion, has put it up for sale. She owes a $150,000 fine by Oct. 1.
Need a mentor, Mischa?
Turning to the court docket, Mischa Barton (“The O.C.”) faces misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence, driving without a license and marijuana possession from a December arrest.
But Bobby Brown won’t face criminal charges for being caught with a small amount of cocaine, though a judge recommended he volunteer to mentor young people – which the singer says he wanted to do anyway.
Best supporting apology
Four-time Oscar host Whoopi Goldberg has accepted an apology from producer Gil Cates for not including her in a montage of former hosts during Sunday’s ceremony.
“He said, ‘You know I love you,’ ” Goldberg said Wednesday on “The View,” calling him a “great gentleman.”
Eating more crow
The Black Crowes are still waiting for their apology from Maxim magazine for publishing a negative review of their new CD without listening to the full album.
The magazine has said it’s sorry to its readers for the review of “Warpaint,” which apparently was based on the lone single released so far.
“It comes as no surprise that Maxim has elected to apologize to their readers now that the world has been informed of their deception; however, that is not full accountability,” said Crowes’ manager Pete Angelus.
The birthday bunch
Actor Charles Durning is 85. Actor Gavin MacLeod is 77. Actress Bernadette Peters is 60. Actress Mercedes Ruehl is 60. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is 53. Actor John Turturro is 51. Actor Robert Sean Leonard is 39.