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Site of Prince’s purple ’80s house in Chanhassen has sale pending

A gate guards the property where Prince lived in a purple house at the peak of his stardom (Jay Gabler/MPR)
A gate guards the property where Prince lived in a purple house at the peak of his stardom (Jay Gabler/MPR)

by Jay Gabler

January 06, 2017

No, they're not selling Paisley Park — and not the Purple Rain house either, but Prince's estate is selling the land where Prince lived in a literal purple house during the Purple Rain era.

That house was located on Kiowa Trail in Chanhassen, on Lake Riley. In the mid-80s, Prince moved to a larger house on Galpin Boulevard (also in Chanhassen), and his dad moved into the Lake Riley house. Prince later razed both of those houses, but continued to own the land until his death as part of a fairly extensive local real estate portfolio. His estate is now proceeding to sell some of that land off.

Two parcels have already sold, though not as they were originally offered. A 1.82-acre Kiowa Trail parcel that was originally offered as a $925,000 package with to-be-built-house included has sold for $240,000 — house not included. Similarly, a parcel on Red Fox Circle (near the Galpin property) was first offered for $599,999 and would have included a to-be-built house, but has now sold for $150,000 sans future house.

The parcel that held the purple house itself currently has a sale pending. "Live where Prince used to live," says a listing that values the lakeside property at $1,675,000 — with to-be-built five-bedroom home included. Among the albums that were in part recorded on this property were Controversy1999, and Sign O’ the Times, as well as music released by the Time, Vanity 6, and Apollonia 6. Prince bought the adjoining Kiowa Trail parcel (mentioned above) for privacy.

Update 1/10: After this post was published, a number of fans on Twitter raised questions regarding the status of the gate, which is the one structure visibly remaining from Prince's occupancy of the property. On Twitter, Norton Realty confirmed that "the gate is considered part of the property and is included in the sale." Asked via e-mail whether, at the time the property went on the market, there was any discussion of preserving the gates, Realtor Steve Norton said he is unable to comment on that topic at this time.

Another Prince property that has a sale pending is a two-bedroom home on Dakota Avenue in Chanhassen, listed at $284,999. That house has taken a while to sell, and saw its price drop, because "it isn't exactly sexy," argues Patch — though that seems a little unfair to a house formerly owned by Prince that includes a purple rec room with a fireplace.

Real estate agent Steve Norton has been open about the fact that these properties have a royal pedigree. "I call it the bonus factor of Prince," he told Patch. "Some buyers aren’t going to care. But it certainly doesn’t hurt the properties that Prince owned them."

Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.