BANKRUPT M.C. HAMMER PUTS HOME ON THE MARKET.

Byline: San Francisco Examiner 

The massive white house at the top of Vista del Sol is on the market again. It is the house that rap built - M.C. Hammer's $12 million spread.

The one with the $2 million worth of marble, the indoor and the outdoor pools, the three waterfalls and the control panels that regulate temperature, humidity and even draw the draperies.

The house is on the market because M.C. Hammer is broke. He declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 1996, claiming $9.6 million in assets and $13.7 million in debts.

Seated in his floor-to-ceiling gray marble office - the one with customized marble niches designed to hold his Grammy and People's Choice awards - Hammer breathes a huge sigh, cracks a wide grin and says, ``How do I feel about movin' out of here? Relieved.''

When Hammer, born Stanley Kirk Burrell in Oakland, Calif., 35 years ago, released ``Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' in 1990, Forbes magazine estimated his earnings at $33 million. And it appears that he spent every cent.

He owned a stable of thoroughbred horses and 17 cars, including a Hummer and a Ferrari. He hobnobbed with sports greats like Evander Holyfield, Dan Marino and Deion Sanders (one of his creditors, from whom Hammer borrowed $500,000), not to mention the Sultan of Brunei and members of the Saudi royal family. And he built his dream house right under Mission Peak, with a panoramic view of the Peninsula, two bridges, Shoreline Amphitheatre and the NUMMI automobile plant.

``When I moved in here, it felt more like I was still on vacation,'' he says. ``In my world travels, I stayed at the finest hotels. I've seen the best.''

This may account for the razzmatazz quality of Hammer's decorating - the acres of black marble, the mirrored bathrooms and the massive gold and black marble Jacuzzi in the bedroom.

``That pop-up TV console in the bedroom? I got the idea at the Mirage in Vegas.''