Prince's Paisley Park Not For Sale: Famous Compound And 'Purple Rain' House Safe, Estate Lawyers Say
Put on a record and stay calm, because Prince's Paisley Park is safe for now. Despite rumors to the contrary, the Bremer Trust — which is in charge of the estate of the late musician — isn't auctioning off the famous compound.
The trust issued a statement Sunday assuring fans that it "has no plans to sell either Paisley Park or the property referred to as the 'Purple Rain' house," the Associated Press reported.
Paisley Park is a sprawling 65,000-square-foot compound created in the 1980s in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Originally home to Paisley Park Studios, Prince's record label, the landmark later became the place where the pop icon lived and work. He was found dead in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21 of a drug overdose.
Since then, Paisley Park has become a memorial to Prince. Fans have flocked to the compound to leave purple flowers, letters, paintings, banners, stuffed animals and balloons in his honor, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Some people have compared it to Graceland, the Memphis, Tennessee, mansion where Elvis Presley lived that has long attracted tourists.
Fans were alarmed Friday when TMZ surfaced a court document from the Bremer Trust requesting permission to sell about 20 Prince properties.
Prince's lawyer L. Londell McMillan tried to calm the hysteria on Twitter, writing that "#PaisleyPark is Historic. BIG plans for it; the family, fans & community worldwide will be thrilled! #NoSale! Don't believe all media."
Although the future of Paisley Park is unclear, even the Bremer Trust has floated the idea of converting it into a museum. Attorneys filed documents in June asking to hire people to "assist in the development and/or commencement of a new business [and] provide advice and counsel on how to manage public tours of the grounds," according to NBC News.
"It's a wonderful, wonderful ambition," Meredith Rutledge-Borger of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum told the AP in June. "It's going to be a lot of work. But they're ahead of the game because they've got the stuff."
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