11-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE Fury as American billionaire owner of Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch plans to build 'monstrous' mansion in idyllic Oxfordshire village
Villagers living in the heart of rural Oxfordshire fear their small slice of British paradise will be transformed into a 'billionaires' playground' should plans for a 'monstrosity' mansion be green lit.
Locals in Little Tew are battling against American billionaire Ronald Burkle's bid to build a lavish six-bedroom country pile on farmland in the quaint Cotswolds idyll, which they fear could become a new ' Michael Jackson '-style Neverland mansion.
Mr Burkle, who owns celebrity hotspot Soho House and Jackson's former Neverland ranch, has rubbed shoulders with Elton John and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. He hopes to build a pool, lake, stables, staff flat and solar panel field.
The sprawling manor house would also be fitted with its very own gun room, lift, entertainment room and wine store, several reception rooms, a butler's pantry and a domed entrance hall said to be inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
But villagers have drawn battle lines against it and have been struggling for the best part of three years to have the scheme thrown out by West Oxfordshire District Council - with some rallying together to pay for a top barrister to represent them.
Originally rejected in 2022, a renewed bid has since been submitted - with Little Tew now in 'limbo' while councillors mull over whether to approve it or not. Should it be green-lit, locals fear it would open the floodgates for further 'vulgar' mega homes.
'It's just going to turn our small part of rural England into a billionaires' playground,' one 48-year-old mother-of-two told MailOnline when we visited the rural hamlet.
'The whole thing is just p***ing people off because it's going to price people out of the area... It's turning Oxford into the latest playground for the mega rich.'
Mr Burkle, a Californian investor behind a string of deals involving US supermarkets, bought a majority stake in Soho House in 2012 and serves as executive chairman.
The group runs more than 40 clubs from Nashville, in the US, to Bangkok, in Thailand. Annual membership in the UK costs as much as £2,950.
The ultra-rich American also owns Michael Jackson's infamous Neverland ranch, which he purchased in December 2020 for $22million (£16million).
Little Tew, located between Banbury and Chipping Norton - and just seven miles away from Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat farm shop - was originally built as a farming village.
In the 19th century the rural getaway - surrounded by fields and rolling hills - saw an influx of academics from Oxford. More recently, it has included Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart as one of its residents.
Anthony Cripps is a tenant in one of the idyllic hamlet's cottages, having lived in Little Tew for 10 years and now fears for the future of the quintessential country retreat.
Speaking to MailOnline from his office, the 58-year-old recruitment consultant said: 'It's obscene. You know, we need more affordable housing, we don't need more new houses for billionaires.
'It is monstrous. It looks like a sort of Michael Jackson "Pixie" mansion. It's very ugly.
'It would look more suitable where there's a line of mansions but not something in the middle of the English countryside, in a particularly delicate spot.'
Mr Cripps, who is the chairman of the village's parish meeting, feared the 'ugly' mansion could threaten to destroy Little Tew's unspoiled, protected countryside.
'We're not we're not NIMBYs,' he added. 'There have been efforts to think about where we can have affordable housing in the village and all of that - and we're certainly open to this.
'But this village has just two post boxes, there was a pub here over the road until 1890 and there was a bus stop that now doesn't have a bus calling. So we are a very rural settlement.
'We've recently put in 20mph speed limits. We've done that, not because we like seeing 20mph speed limits everywhere, but because we have so many incredibly wealthy people speeding through in the Bentleys and their Rolls-Royces.'
Pensioners Margaret Norris, 79, and Andrew Dunston, 75, have lived in the village for 45 years and are both staunchly against the development.
'It disgusts me,' said Andrew when MailOnline visited his picturesque thatched cottage in the heart of the village. 'It's completely out of character.'
Ms Norris added: 'It really is a monstrous carbuncle.'
Pictured is one of the fields where the lavish new country estate could be constructed upon
Mr Dunston said the campaign by locals to oppose the mansion was reaching a critical turning point.
While neighbour Mr Cripps added: 'I think it's illustrative of a greater aim to protect what is left of rural England.'
Locals living in the isolated village - which has no shop or bus stop and only two post boxes as well as a humble 19th century church - say the community would face significant disruption should Mr Burkle's mansion be constructed.
In the southern end of Little Tew, a mother-of-two said the American magnate's 'colossal' development was a 'vulgar display of wealth'.
Speaking to MailOnline from her home - which was adorned with Union flags and bunting to mark VE Day - the married 51-year-old feared the village's fight would ultimately fail.
'It's a huge shame and I feel like it's the whim of a person who doesn't really have a lot of interest in the village and just wants somewhere to build his enormous mansion,' said the woman, who regularly enjoys blackberry picking at the rural plot with her children.
'It's a beautiful area that's very unspoiled. It just seems to be a display of gratuitous wealth rather than anything else.
'I just hope, in my heart of hearts, he doesn't get permission, but then you hear rumours that he gets what he wants, and won't take no for an answer.
'I don't think it's necessary, in this day and age, to build houses of that significance.
'These lovely old villages are very much built with a purpose in mind. Other than just being gratuitous grandeur, I can't see why this mansion is being built. I mean, it's hardly Blenheim Palace, is it... It's a colossal monstrosity.'
Despite receiving dozens of objections for the plans submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council, Mr Burkle has insisted he would be 'a good neighbour'.
But earlier this year, the American tycoon's plans were dealt a blow after a potential Iron Age fort was discovered at the site he hopes to build, which could scupper the project.
Oxfordshire County Archaeological Service's report said: 'There have been few formal archaeological investigations undertaken in Little Tew, and few cropmarks suggestive of archaeological remains have been recorded in the area.
'There is potential for features related to a possible Iron Age multi-vallate hillfort to exist on the site with the possible hillfort located at The Manor House, Little Tew, 720m southeast of the development site.
'Though the applicant has submitted a DBA (archaeological desk-based assessment), this is limited without any fieldwork being undertaken.'
The report suggests a practical field investigation ought to be carried out and that Mr Burkle should be the one who commissions the search.
It comes as a planning committee previously rejected designs for the house in 2022 for failing to represent a 'truly outstanding development' and not meeting specific planning criteria.
An objector for the latest application wrote: 'Rather than being a development of "truly outstanding quality", I believe it to be a proposal of truly outstanding grotesquerie.
'It would be a travesty for light and sound pollution to be increased by such a massive intrusion on the outskirts of our village.
'Please reject what would clearly be an inappropriate, non-isolated, habitat-threatening, polluting, un-enhancing and insensitive 'monstrous carbuncle'.'
The 4.37-hectare development would also incorporate a natural swimming pool, bather's pavilion in the "pleasure ground" area, stable block and estate manager's cottage plus a circular lawn that could double-up as a helipad.
And architect Francis Terry's "new country house" features stables as well as a landscape garden, courtyard, solar panels, a new lake and a tree nursery alongside the house.
Ron's other famous friends in include Sir Elton John and David Furnish. Pictured here at an event in Hollywood in 2016
Mr Burkle is executive chairman of Soho House, which includes Soho Farmhouse three miles from the site.
He is also behind plans for the Mullin Automotive Museum in nearby Enstone approved last year despite almost 200 objection letters sent to the council.
In a recent interview the 71-year-old mogul, who owns six properties including Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch, said he would be a good neighbour wherever he ends up living and support local charities and community organisations.
He also said he is still in the process of buying the land and the current owner had drawn up the plans before he got involved and added he would only proceed to buy it if he gets planning approval.
But the archaeological report explained: 'In accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework, we would therefore recommend that, prior to the determination of this application the applicant should therefore be responsible for the implementation of an archaeological field evaluation.
'This must be carried out by a professionally qualified archaeological organisation and should aim to define the character and extent of the archaeological remains within the application area and thus indicate the weight which should be attached to their preservation.
'This evaluation must be undertaken in line with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists standards and guidance for archaeological evaluation including the submission and agreement of a suitable written scheme of investigation.
'This information can be used for identifying potential options for minimising or avoiding damage to the archaeology and on this basis, an informed and reasonable decision can be taken.'
The planning application remains under consideration.
