The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
Local Current Blog

200 homes to be built on former Prince residential property in Chanhassen

by Jay Gabler

July 12, 2018

"There won't be a Purple Rain Parkway, there won't be a Little Red Corvette Court, there won't be a Lovesexy Lane." So says Chanhassen mayor Denny Laufenburger, telling KSTP about plans to build a residential neighborhood with about 200 houses on a swath of land once owned and occupied by Prince.

The 188-acre site on Galpin Boulevard, now worth about $16 million, comprises a set of parcels purchased by Prince starting in the mid-1980s, after he moved out of his purple house on Kiowa Trail. He lived on Galpin in a big yellow house, with amenities including a tennis court and a windmill.

The Galpin house also contained a home studio, where portions of Sign O’ the Times and The Black Album were recorded. The house gets a shout-out at the beginning of Prince’s song “Zannalee,” with a mock police officer reporting “a disturbance on Galpin.” Footage from inside the Galpin house also appears in a video for a “Gett Off” remix — including a briefly-glimpsed photo of Prince’s father.

Paisley Park opened in 1987, and as the 1990s progressed Prince spent a decreasing amount of time on Galpin. He owned the property until the end of his life, but in 2006 he had the Galpin house razed. He also had the purple house razed after his father, who lived there, died in 2001.

That site was previously sold by Prince's estate, and its new owners are building a family home while preserving Prince's very recognizable security gate. A full security gatehouse is still in evidence at the Galpin site, which has remained undeveloped since 2006.

One of the variables to be determined regarding the new development regards how much of the acreage will be preserved as woods, fields, and wetland. The exact number and style of the houses to be constructed by developer Lennar is also up for debate. The homes' placement will take advantage of the fact that Prince's former property bordered two lakes, Lake Lucy and Lake Ann.

The Chanhassen Planning Commission will consider the plans next Tuesday, and the city says it wants to preserve as much wooded area and parkland as possible. Laufenburger isn't just being cute: Prince's estate has requested that none of Prince's trademarks be used in the new development.

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