A Palatial Property Fit For A Prince

Working within the real estate industry on Spain’s Costa del Sol allows me to indulge in my passion for property by viewing some of the region’s most spectacular residences. For me, the opportunity to look around the homes of the rich and famous is especially exciting, particularly when the home in question is the former Mediterranean retreat of the eccentric US pop star known as Prince.

“Villa Adorna Tierra” is situated just west of Marbella in the hills of El Paraiso and was originally acquired by the flamboyant pop star in 1998 as an extravagant wedding gift, bestowed upon his then wife Mayte Garcia. Only four years later and the couple’s turbulent marriage had ended, thereby resulting in the eventual sale of Adorna Tierra in 2004 to its current owner. This year the villa is once again being offered for sale, and could be yours providing you have the “princely” sum of 4.25 million euros to spend.

On a typically warm, sunny Marbella day I entered the grounds of the property via the deceptively discreet entrance gates to be presented with what can only be described as a fairytale mansion sitting amid idyllic subtropical gardens. With its pale pink and white exterior, marble terraces and colonnades, Adorna Tierra is everything you would expect from the home of an international superstar, remaining unaltered since Prince and Mayte’s occupancy in the late 1990’s.


Inside and the property is fantastically ostentatious – visitors are greeted with an enormous colonial style double staircase with white marble balustrades sweeping down to the grand, chandeliered entrance hall. Indeed this same degree of opulence is apparent throughout the rest of the villa, where seemingly no expense has been spared in creating the perfect pied á terre. The elegant dining hall and three interlinked reception rooms would certainly have provided a stylish backdrop for the lavish showbiz parties which were a regular fixture at the house during Prince and Mayte’s time here.

In addition to the principal living areas, the villa also boasts a full scale bar, gymnasium, study, wine store and walk-in safe, not to mention the fully equipped hair salon specifically installed by the quirky performer (who always travelled to Marbella with his own personal hairstylist!) bedecked with mirrors, dryers and basins and elevations fashioned out of black and pink marble.

Upstairs, the sleeping quarters are in the form of three huge bedroom suites, each with an ensuite marble bathroom and private terrace enjoying breathtaking panoramic views over the valley and sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea beyond. The villa’s vast master suite is reminiscent of an Arabian boudoir, spread over two levels with a mirrored ceiling above the bed, ornate painted headboard and harem-style muslin drapes with sumptuously swagged curtains adorning the windows.


The property’s interior style epitomizes the former owner’s eclectic personality, featuring both Arabian and Egyptian influences. And in spite of the generous use of pink and purple hues throughout the villa’s interior, the house feels surprisingly bright and fresh, mainly due to its high ceilings and south-facing position allowing natural light to pour in through the full height windows from morning till noon.



The property has a host of luxurious features which include a Bang and Olufsen central music system, sunken bath, outdoor jacuzzi and marble floors throughout. There are also some fantastic pieces of memorabilia remaining in the property that will be included within the sale, such as a bold portrait of Prince and Mayte measuring several meters in size which still hangs on the wall of the main hall and a set of grandiose purple velvet chairs in the study, each embellished with the star’s infamous symbol. Fans of Prince would probably have liked me to find a “little red corvette” in the stand-alone garage; however, what was actually revealed to me was a pale pink BMW complete with fluffy seats and gold wheels - apparently the couple’s preferred mode of transport for cruising the streets of Marbella. Again, the car will be left as part of the sale should the new residents wish to do the same!

The villa lies within approximately one and a half acres of mature landscaped gardens that incorporate a tennis court, outdoor pool and extensive terraces - all of which can be illuminated when the sun goes down, perfect for those evening soirees. Bordering cypress trees and a boundary wall ringing the entire plot also provide optimum privacy and security. The elevated setting is supremely serene and its not hard to imagine how this peaceful sanctuary would have inspired the artist creatively, writing most of the songs for his critically acclaimed “Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic” album whilst relaxing here.

With all this in mind, the question is who would make a suitable buyer for a property of this caliber? Adorna Tierra is unquestionably unique; not only in terms of the architectural style and location but also its history, with the added kudos of being a former “celebrity” home. In its present untouched state it’s possible that a wealthy benefactor could purchase the villa with the intention of preserving it as a place of pilgrimage for Prince enthusiasts in years to come – but I suspect that this will be an unlikely scenario.

With more millionaires currently residing in Spain than in any other European country (Marbella the preferred hot spot), Villa Adorna Tierra is certain to attract lots of interest - most likely from east-European businessmen, international sports stars and wealthy Arabians, all of whom have been keen to invest in the area over recent years.

However, prospective buyers with a budget of this magnitude may expect more than three bedrooms for their money, though the villa’s sizeable plot can easily facilitate a substantial extension if desired.

Whatever the outcome, Adorna Tierra is bursting with charm and character, and whoever the future buyer may be, I’m sure they will be drawn by those same enchanting qualities that first attracted Prince and Mayte here more than a decade ago.

Here is the link to the story and photos at the bottom that can be enlarged. Sorry I don't know how to post them:

http://www.easierproperty...rince.html

It looks like a Barbie house and comes with a Barbie car it seems.

Thank you for the information. It seems to me this house has been on sale for ever.

Beautiful!
But it reminds me so much of the NPG club
photos--the front of it I should see the doves
flying , the photo with the stairs I should see
the instruments straight ahead and the stairs leading
us to the different rooms and the room with the long
table and chairs and windows remind me of the room
leading to the conference room or the "chatroom"
oh, the memories.






To all the old NPG members.

Beautiful! In one of the pics there is a picture. Can't make out if it's Prince or Mayte though.

this house has been on the market for the longest time. no one seems to want to buy it. the outside is nice, but the inside is absolutely awful!! the interior gut job to fix this aesthetic mess would cost too much, hence no one wanting to buy & remodel ...

Prince has got some weird taste when it comes the interior of his homes -- he needs to hire a pro who can show him what great materials & furnishings are really out there today. stop living in the early 80's, I'm a nouveau-riche, glizt is glam, gold is rich style.

I thought this house was already sold. i remember reading on housequake that some collector or something brought the house and some of Prince's clothes were still there and he was trying to sell them, because they were still in the house when he brougt it.

1FRO said:

In the bedroom is/was a picture of Prince wrapped around Mayte... from around 1995. He's standing behind her and I think he's holding a scepter in front of her or something like that. I'll try to find but maybe you know the one I mean.

Oops sorry I was thinking of the wrong one. It's this





not this

3121rocks said:

I think maybe it was, although I think most people if they had bought it would have stripped it out and sold off the collectable stuff and then tried to make the rest of it more to their own taste. Unless a fan bought it, but then why would a fan part with it again so quickly?

I know that it was on the market with a company called Aylesford for a long....long time, and at that time it was Mayte who was selling it for less than it's on the market for now. I never found out if it sold, but it wasn't advertised as being connected to Prince in any way at that time, it was just being advsertised amongst all the other Marbella mansions on their site. If you were a fan, you'd know it belonged from him because a couple of the images showed the symbol still painted on the house and that picture of them close up with Mayte sideways on, (the one that was in the "coincidence or fate" wedding brochure) was hanging in the main bedroom at the time.

I'm guessing now that it never sold and she's trying to sell it again, but this time she's increased the price and decided to market it as a former Prince residence. If people went to view that before, people who had no knowledge of it's former owner they may have just thought it was really awful, but maybe she's hoping that by marketing it in this way someone will see earning potential. I'd love this to go to a genuine fan, but my guess is that someone will buy it and then sell off all the collecables via Sotherbys or something. I'd never part with any of it..... if I could afford to buy it to begin with!!!!

aubergine said:

People have the right to have any kind of taste they want to have.
Not everybody wants to be like you.

This article from 2004 shows that it's been marketed this way for some time.

Estrelle7 said:

Oh, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that Mayte hadn't mentioned it herself when she was selling it, or that newspapers haven't reported the Prince connection in the past when it was on the market. What I was saying is that Aylesford who were the agents for the property at the time did not market it in that way. Who's choice that was I don't know, but there was absolutley no reference to the previous owner on their website. It was just another marbella mansion amongst many others with basic decriptions of the rooms and the sizes etc. You could only see the o+> in one of the pictures I think, so if you were in the market for a marbella pad and were looking online for property available, you may not have been aware of the Prince connection at all because it wasn't promoted by the agents via their website. It just hit me as a massive contrast to the way it is being advertised this time around.

read the article accompanying the listing. it states that it was sold by mayte in 2004 and now the current owner (who made no changes to the house) is selling it. what i find extremely odd is that mayte would sell the house with her pictures in frames and such (see the picture of the foyer, there is a framed pic of mayte on the right counter). and their bmw is still there? really strange.

gypsyfire said:

THAT IS TRUE !!!

No one has to be like me, and no one is me ... to each his own, I was just giving my opinion (wanted or not) just like you.

3121rocks said:

has there been any news about that? posts here and on HQ were removed...

paisley16 said:

did you read my post above? if you read the article it tells you about the sale of the house by Matye. Quoted from the article:

"“Villa Adorna Tierra” is situated just west of Marbella in the hills of El Paraiso and was originally acquired by the flamboyant pop star in 1998 as an extravagant wedding gift, bestowed upon his then wife Mayte Garcia. Only four years later and the couple’s turbulent marriage had ended, thereby resulting in the eventual sale of Adorna Tierra in 2004 to its current owner. This year the villa is once again being offered for sale, and could be yours providing you have the “princely” sum of 4.25 million euros to spend."

txladykat said:

no, I meant about the person selling the clothes.

paisley16 said:

LOL...the articles says it remains untouched and all their stuff was still there, including car, picture and furniture, but it didnt specifically specify clothes...interesting.

txladykat said:

yeah, there was a big brou-haha going on a couple of weeks ago- the guy selling the clothes even had a posts up about it for a bit, then he got served and posted it on HQ. Raging discussion ensued, threads deleted within hours. ? I have no clue what's become of it all...but he was talking auction house, although initially it appeared he was going private sale or ebay.