Michael Jackson’s home on sale for $23.9 million

Michael Jackson. AFP FILE PHOTO

LOS ANGELES—The plush Los Angeles mansion where Michael Jackson died is on sale for $23.9 million, and a major celebrity is interested in buying it, according to realtors and the TMZ celebrity website.

The seven-bedroom, 13-bathroom property, described as the centrepiece of an “elegant and sophisticated French chateau estate,” includes its own movie theater, a gym and a pool, said the realtors’ website.

“The estate… offers a glamorous theater for screenings in a grand style, a magnificent wine cellar and tasting room, elevator, a spacious spa with gym, and an elegant guesthouse,” as well as an “expansive pool and gardens,” it said.

The house, built in 2002 in the Holmby Hills district west of Los Angeles, includes more than 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) of living space with 12 working fireplaces, and is set in a “lush and mature landscape” of some 1.26 acres (0.5 hectares).

TMZ reported that the property went on sale on Monday, and said a “major celebrity” is set to visit it on Thursday.

Realtor Mauricio Umansky, head of The Agency in Beverly Hills, will only show the property to serious buyers who have pre-qualified, meaning they have the money to buy it.

Pictures on the website appeared to include shots of the bedroom — including what looks like the same bed headboard, if not bed — as the one where the King of Pop died on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50.

The realtor’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry over whether the bed is the same.

The contents of the home, which Jackson rented, were sold at auction in December, although the bed and headboard were not included in items for sale, at the request of the Jackson family.

Jackson’s personal doctor Conrad Murray was jailed for four years in November after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter of the star, who died from an overdose of the anesthetic drug propofol.

The singer, who was in Los Angeles rehearsing for a series of comeback London shows at the time of his death, was being treated with the drug as well as others to help him battle chronic insomnia.