Orlando Timeshare Developer Played Landlord to Michael Jackson
Friday, July 3, 2009
For all the stories coming out now about the life (and death) of music icon Michael Jackson, one of the more intriguing comes from timeshare developer, David Siegel.
Siegel is the founder and CEO of Westgate timeshare and Westgate Vacation Villas, based in Orlando, Florida. Over the years, the theme parks made Orlando a favorite vacation destination for pop king, Michael Jackson, but with his fame and notoriety, he couldn’t exactly enjoy a quiet stay in an Orlando hotel or Orlando timeshare. So he rented private property.
And no residential location in the Orlando area is any more private that the exclusive mansions behind the guarded gates of Isleworth, located in a corner of the Orlando area, in the tiny town of Windermere. In addition to being home to Jacqueline and David Siegel, Isleworth‘s famous residents include Ken Griffey Jr., Shaquille O’Neal, Tiger Woods, and a host of other ultra-wealthy celebrities and business moguls who own homes there. But it was one of the two Isleworth homes of Westgate timeshare’s Siegel that appealed to Jackson most among the cloistered mansions, possibly because it is located on a four-acre private island—and privacy is what Jackson stressed mattered most.
So from time to time, Michael Jackson and his entourage would contact Siegel and request to rent the Siegel family’s little 26,000 square-foot home with its 60-foot heated pool bordered in real gold and its 1700 feet of shoreline along the pristine freshwater of the Butler Chain of Lakes. With every Orlando visit, there was always the caveat that Siegel was to tell no one about Jackson’s presence, and for the weekly rental rate of $15,000, Siegel had plenty of motivation to honor the pop star’s request.
Which is why David Siegel found it so amazing, that after all the pledges of secrecy, soon after arriving at the Florida retreat, Jackson would be spotted on the roof of the home. As Siegel explained to FOX News Orlando, “He said he’ll take it under the condition that nobody knows he’s here. I didn’t tell anybody. He moves in. Within a day, he’s up on top of the house waving at boaters!”
How long do you think it takes, in Orlando, Florida, already known as Hollywood East because of the movie production and music recording industry based there, for paparazzi to identify the King of Pop standing on the widow’s walk of a two-story mansion, waiving one gloved hand to the recreational boaters just off shore?
And if you are thinking about enjoying the sunny weather, theme parks, and sparking lakes of Orlando and Central Florida yourself, but you are not planning on renting a private mansion, here are links to beautiful Westgate timeshares you can enjoy for a lot less money … but wherever you go, stay off the roof.
