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Most of the inside is apparently quite disorienting; there is no sunlight or even external landmarks to orient one’s sense of direction. Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty ImagesThe stylized, unique Love Symbol #2 became immortalized during a Paisley Park renovation. The symbol was literally cemented into the flooring of the entry foyer. The emblem included the Venus and Mars gender symbols and is tiled in black on the white floor.

Most of the money probably went into the impressive professional recording studio. Furthermore, every single room was wired with surround sound. He was a visionary artist and musician who pushed boundaries in the arts and music. His shrewdness was demonstrated by his willingness to put his money where his mouth was. According to the court documents, Prince’s estate now has a market value of $163.2 million.
In the Place Where Prince Lived
Thousands of unheard songs allegedly survive him in the archives of Paisley Park, but Prince left impressions everywhere he lived. Recently, the photographer Alec Soth and I went looking for them. For a man who didn’t like taking pictures, it was shocking to see Prince’s home filled with the most epic, life-sized art of HIM. Everything he created held an underlying message, and he surrounded himself with those messages.
He would come from his residence on the second floor onto the terrace to watch over his friends as they enjoyed themselves. Although visitors weren’t always able to see him, Prince always was and remains observing. History Hall, I believe he named it, features a timeline of his career with life-size photos attached to the wall on one side, and awards on the other is the perfect example of his vision.
Prince’s Living Quarters Are Banned
Across the street, a woman lightly chided her preschool-age son for eating dirty snow. She glanced at Alec setting up his camera, on the street, and looked back at her kid. “Maybe one day you’ll grow up to be so famous someone will come take pictures of our house,” she said. The day before we are to fly from Los Angeles to Minnesota for the big day, we get news announcing the local city council has voted to delay the opening of Paisley Park because of traffic concerns.

More of Prince’s clothes and accessories are wrapped in special tissue paper and packed away with their original sketches. There was even a mannequin made in Prince’s size because the singer refused to do fittings. If that’s the case, you can now take a tour of Prince’s Paisley Park yourself! Thanks to the work of Graceland Holdings, the managers of Elvis’s famous former home. If you were a fan of the Chappelle Show skits that included a trash-talking Prince playing basketball, you might wonder where that concept came from.
Be Punctual, Your Tour Guide Ain’t Got Time to Waste
I’m with Prince on this one; scented candles are very important. In his basement, they discovered more than 120 guitars, and some of them didn’t even work. All that without mentioning the underground bank vault of music he left behind. Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesNo matter where he was in his home, he could put on some high-quality audio or listen to his own music.
At the center of the room is Prince’s massive Love Symbol etched into the floor with purple velvet couches on each side. Sitting in the middle of the room is a replica of Paisley Park encased by thick glass. The tour guide explains that this was his favorite room, where Prince felt most alive.
However, an autopsy revealed that Prince died from an accidental drug overdose of fentanyl. He did change his name to an unpronounceable symbol after a dispute with his record label. When spoken, the public referred to him as the artist formerly known as Prince. He ditched the symbol as his name in 2000 and returned to his given name. Paisley Park Studios is where Prince lived until his death. Just east of Paisley Park, and along Highway 5 is the memorial fence, where fans still leave zip-tied drawings and umbrellas and charms and purple teddy bears and, mysteriously, a purple spatula.
On your tour of Paisley Park, you’ll start in the Paisley Park atrium and see Prince’s recording studio, the Paisley Park soundstage, and museum-like exhibits featuring items from Purple Rain and Prince’s performances. The house was designed to reflect Prince’s personality and his serious work ethic. My favorite part of the Paisley Park tour was the soundstage. When Prince was alive, this four-story, black-draped room featuring a full stage was used to rehearse for tours and to record music videos and movies. One of the primary reasons Prince spent $10 million to build Paisley Park was as a recording studio.
It happened to be one of the first singles from the album Around the World in a Day. The music videos were mesmerizing and brought back a flood of memories. I wanted to read each sign and drink in the artifacts on display. It would have been great to have another 15 minutes in this room. From a wall in the entry with framed gold records to another long wall of awards behind glass, Paisley Park showcases the accomplishment of a superstar.

This purple door, the original front gate of the house, is still standing and serves as a tourist attraction. I’m on way to P Park to experience Prince for my Bday March 13 th. I’ve been Prince fan admirer since day one of his iconic beautiful career n life. From the GA tour to the Ultimate Experience, every Paisley Park tour includes a visit to Prince’s NPG Music Club Room. “I just like Minneapolis a little better.” For all the houses he kept at various times, in Spain and in Toronto and in Los Angeles, he always returned to his hometown, where he made his best work.
In fact, he would often separate himself from those who didn’t work as tirelessly as him. While it may look relatively modest from the outside, Paisley Park is an enormous complex! With over 55,000 square feet, it’s basically the size of a large grocery store. It’s located on a large acreage in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a suburb of the Minneapolis-St. Paisley Park gets its name from one of Prince’s very own songs, released by his band The Revolution in 1985.
I particularly like the way you describe the last display of memorabilia left by fans after Prince’s death in 2016. Corri shared that all of the items left at the fence have been carefully preserved and the Paisley Park museum regularly switches out the items displayed on the fence in the final exhibit before the Paisley Park tour ends. If you tour Paisley Park, do not inquire about the elevator where Prince died. I know this etiquette because a woman on our tour asked that question and Corri politely replied that they prefer to focus on Prince’s life and don’t share that detail out of respect for his family. According to our tour guide, Corri, Prince loved paisley because they came in all sizes and different colors, just like the human race.
Gunzenhausen, Germany
Elsewhere in Minneapolis he had started researching his own houses too. When we visited her home in northeast Minneapolis, she was dressed in leggings and boots and a long hooded sweater she’d sewed herself. Prince is the reason for the guitars and amps in her living room. Before he died, Miho began teaching herself to play the bass lines of his songs.
