King of Pop’s final home and possessions to be auctioned

THE bed where Michael Jackson took his last breath is up for sale.

The queen-size piece is among hundreds of items from the Holmby Hills mansion where Jackson spent his final days that are set to hit the auction block next month.

“We want to preserve the history of these items,” said celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, which will sell the various antique furnishings, paintings and sculptures that surrounded the King of Pop as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts.

The North Carolwood Drive home, where Jackson lived with his three children from December 2008 until his death on June 25, 2009, is separately up for sale.

A note from one of the children remains on a chalkboard inside the home’s sprawling kitchen, where three barstools were lined up against the centre island. “I (heart) Daddy. SMILE, it’s for free,” the chalk note reads in childlike scrawl. The chalkboard is expected to fetch more than $400.

At the very moment on Monday that Dr Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death, reporters were eerily taking a tour of the three-story home where the pop star lived and died.

The bedroom shown in evidence photos at Murray’s criminal trial was considered a “medication room” by the Jackson team. Murray was found guilty of supplying an insomnia-plagued Jackson with the operating-room anaesthetic propofol, to help him sleep.

Jackson maintained an adjacent bedroom that he regarded as his inner sanctum. This included a bathroom larger than most living rooms and two massive walk-in closets.

Among the items for sale in the medication room, where evidence was collected for Murray’s trial, are upholstered chairs smudged with Jackson’s makeup and Jackson’s death bed, which looks out to an expansive backyard surrounded by tall trees. The yard is anchored by a large swimming pool and a pool house, where the singer’s son Prince carved his name on a beeswax candle.

The medication room, on the top floor, leads to another walk-in closet and bathroom, where Jackson’s makeup remains on a small silk-covered stool.

Curving staircases on each side of the mansion’s most famous room led down to the kitchen and the elegant foyer, where a grand piano sits topped with crystal candlesticks.

Celebrity home tours still pass by the house. On the day of Murray’s conviction, a tour guide could be heard telling passengers: “This is the home of Michael Jackson, where he passed away.”

Picture: The bedroom at the Beverly Hills home where Michael Jackson died. Picture: AP