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So Where is Prince’s Studio and House?

Paisley Park StudioRIP Prince: June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016

We’ve always known that Prince is from the Minneapolis area. More specifically Chanhassen. But where exactly?

This conversation was sparked by the Superbowl performance. After watching the half time show, the questions popped back into our heads. Since we live in the same general area, I want to know.

So I headed off to Google to do a few searches and found out.

7801 Audubon Rd
Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317

To make this a bit more interesting, here is a bit of background on this. We moved out of the city to this area almost two years ago. We’ve been exploring the communities and know where pretty much everything is. However, there is one building we pass all the time that we didn’t know what was.

It was white and I mentioned that it looked like it needed to be washed before. We also thought it kind of looked like a padded building for crazy people or what not. (not being serious) We never really knew what it was but it intrigued us. Guess what, it’s the world famous Paisley Park Studios that Prince built.

It’s a $10 million dollar building where many artists record albums, videos and much more. It’s one of the most historically important studios in the world and we never knew what it was so we made fun of the building. 😉

I find it really amusing that I’ve stared at this building many many times in the past two years and never knew. Next time I drive by, I’m going to pay a bit more attention.

Looking up Prince’s house also turned out to be quite productive. It’s only a few miles away, if it still exists. Rumors are that it was torn down. I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but maybe sometime this summer we’ll go investigate.

Update: The house is gone. Prince didn’t want someone else to own it so it was destroyed.

Princes' house

Princes’ house back in the day.

No More House

The land now.

Google Map of current location which is not much to see.


19 Responses

  1. I lived in Minneapolis for 11 years and we’re in the same boat. Thanks for the info. I think his house was that purple one on Lake Minnetonka, but I can’t be sure.

  2. Jacob says:

    Just wanted to say I was looking at your new design and Christi’s and boy are you talented. Congrats, and keep up the good work.

    Long time no talk too- miss chatting with you like we used to when you weren’t so busy!

    Looks like you have yourself in a great position with great people around you- keep it up. (And when you want to put all of those SEO skills to use on some affiliate stuff, I’m ready to work with you on it.) 🙂

  3. Thomas says:

    You’re finally blogging Jacob. Nice.

  4. wes says:

    Find this yet? He lives at 7141 Galpin Lake Blvd, Chanhassen, MN, 55317. You can look this up on the Carver Co. website, property tax records, or their GIS. Besides this house on 20 acres, it looks like he owns two adjacent properties totaling about 160 acres, which border Lake Lucy and Lake Ann. Total for the three properties is about 180 acres, appraised at about 16 million. He moved there more than 20 years ago. The house is a neutral color (not purple!). There is a yellow windmill on the property. He used to have a very bright purple house on Lake Riley (also in Chanhassen) just East of 101. I think that he gave this to his dad. I don’t think that this is still purple.

  5. Thomas says:

    Thanks for the details. I’ll have to go investigate.

  6. TOYA says:

    WHERE IS PRINCE? WHAT HE DOING THESE DAYS?DOES ANYONE KNOW?

  7. Penni says:

    Prince’s purple house was on Kiowa lane and it is torn down- His father was living there and when his father died Prince had it torn down- We went to see it in 2002 and when we went back in 2004 it was gone- The house he lives in in Chanhassen is still there about a mile from Paisley park- it’s up on a hill- I forget the name of the street- there’s a guard shack at the bottom of the hill –

  8. ed says:

    on maps.google, you can still see his house standing, and the pond, and windmill, but that appears to be old photography, because on maps.live you can clearly see all the structures are gone, lake is overgrown, etc… 🙁

    here are links:
    Google Maps

    Bing Maps

  9. Susan says:

    Hi! I grew up in Chanhassen and although I don’t remember Prince living in a house I Kiowa Lane, ( he might have, but I don’t remember any purple homes on Kiowa, and I knew most of the people who lived over there.) but I know he did have a home on Lake Riley that had a guard shack at the bottom of the hill – it was painted purple, too, and I dated one of the guys who was a guard there. This was about 1982, so Prince wasn’t terribly popular yet. I remember him pulling up to the Chalet Pizza in the Colonial Square in his big purple limo. He would come walking in with two big scary looking guys and order pizza and and sit and quietly talk with them. my friends and I just thought he was a pimp from the “city” out on the prowl in our tiny little town. Seriously! LOL! Another time that same year, I went to pick up my friend who was working as a cashier at the grocery store, (it’s now a Kilowski’s) off of 5 in Eden Prairie, and I was talking to her at her register when all of a sudden the same little guy (Prince) appeared out of nowhere with the same two big bodyguard guys. He was wearing a long black leather trench coat that had a little button that said “Rude Boy” on the lapel. She and I were both freaked out because it was about 11 at night, the store was almost closing and we thought he was maybe going out pull out a gun or something! But then, in a quiet voice, he said, “Good evening, ladies. I hope you’re not closed yet, as my friends and I would like to purchase some items.” He was very polite, and then one of the big guys paid for their pop and other junk and then he turned did this little bow thing towards us and said, “I bid you ladies a very good evening.” Then they left. I remember it vividly because it was so weird! So that’s my Prince story. 🙂

  10. Amy Jo says:

    I used to live right next door to him on Lake Riley, and yes it was a very bright purple with black trim house. I remember leaving for Girl Scout camp one year and coming back to the purple house and at the time no one knew in our neighborhood who he was.
    A lady came to the door asking if I was interested in washing his car, I said yes still not knowing who he was and was very intrigued who would paint their house that color 🙂 Did not take long to figure out who he was! and then came out the movie “Purple Rain”.
    I washed his car over the summer and met him a few times, just so he could roll up the windows on his black BMW, move the car closer to wash it.. and I only got 5.00 to wash the car! But the story I have to tell now and I got to meet him was priceless 🙂
    We had people from magazines knocking on our door asking if they could take pictures from our yard of his place, we always said no to respect his privacy. I know years later his dad moved in there. Prince built another house on Galphin Ave. When Prince did live there, there was a gate around the house with security.

    • RedBeard says:

      Is the “Purple” house still there, I heard that it was torn down and that he owed taxes on the property itself, but that could just be rumor in the media. thanks.

  11. TY says:

    DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT PRINCE IS UP TO NOW? HE STOPPED HIS TOUR EARLY AND JUST FELL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH IT SEEMS

    • Rick says:

      Prince seems to be a highly secure guy, he has supposedly started serving Jehovah God as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I think he is having a difficult time, because he can’t let go of the past and sacrifice his fame and the fortune that comes with it. I think he wanted to serve Jehovah God, but I don’t think he is strong enough to decide to be, “no part of the world”, like Jesus said his followers would be. Instead, I think Prince has been, “caught alive” by Satan, so Satan can use him to mislead others.

  12. Bryan Long says:

    Sure like to visit THE PURPLE ROYAL BADNESS HOUSE. IN YOUR EYES TO SEE SOMETIMES , I FEEL LIKE I AM THERE. ALWAYS LOVED U. Breath in the wind

  13. Beerbellybilly says:

    RIP

  14. Roxi says:

    i don’t think the house was destroyed i think he probably wanted privacy and had them remove it from the google maps… i used to live on lake riley and would go out to where his house was just to see if i could catch a glimpse of him coming out of it the location is correct but i think the information about it being destroyed is incorrect\

    • Thomas says:

      I have it on good word from those that grew up and still currently live in the neighborhood that the house is gone.

  15. Ellie says:

    I honestly cannot believe he is gone. Watched Purple Rain tonight on VH1 with my husband, and it just blows my mind. One day he was making music and the next he was reduced to ashes…in a box. The soup and salad his chef made him the night before he died was still in the Paisley Park refrigerator three days later when her returned for the small gathering at the studios. Mindblowing. That’s all I can come up with. I’m 46 years old and I never gave any thought to him not being alive in my lifetime. Crazy…I just pray he had a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ because I’d really love to see his smiling face in Heaven one day when the Lord calls me home.

  16. The windmill is still there

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