Date: 2005-11-07
Source: http://www.startribune.co...13734.html

Prince demolishes his Chanhassen house
C.J., Star Tribune

Last update: November 7, 2005 at 9:29 PM

Prince has demolished his primary residence in Chanhassen.

"I know somebody obtained a demolition permit," Chanhassen building official Steve Torell said Monday. "I saw [the house] earlier last week. I wasn't here Friday, so I don't know if it's down or not, yet. It is tough to see back there."

Sunday I could not see the house but did notice construction vehicles on the property. I went to check it out after receiving this anonymous e-mail on Saturday: "What purple wonder multimillionaire is destroying his current home to build a new house. What purple wonder decided to fire his entire security staff (due to the construction) with no notice and paid not one thin dime of severance, as we enter the holidays!" The e-mail claims some of those fired have worked for Prince for 20 years. That's hard to believe, because he doesn't keep people around that long.

Another claim is not borne out by city records. Torell said no permit had been taken out to build another home there.

In spring 2003, Prince demolished another Chanhassen property, the famous Purple House on Lake Riley, where he once lived and where his father, John L. Nelson, lived out his final days.

The demolition of the primary residence is probably not that unexpected, given how fast Chanhassen is growing.

Where once there was no development near the property, Prince can run across more neighbors and lots more traffic between there and Paisley Park, which is still standing.

A bad sign for Prince?

In other Prince news, showing of his "Sign of the Times" movie was far from a sellout Saturday. It was a special feature of the City Pages Documentary Film Festival, but showing it at midnight probably didn't help the numbers. At 11:15 p.m. there were two people in the Uptown Theater.


[Note: While it's true the theater was far from sold out, there was a healthy crowd by showtime.]

Was Larry inside the house?

squirrelgrease said:

ExDeus said:

FUCK HER!!!

Why would there be more than 2 people in the theater 45 minutes before a midnight movie???

the required "omgz, he's moved outta minnesota forever and he hates it here and i'm gonna try to go out there and take pictures and get a piece of the dirt from the driveway for teh memories and go cry wtflolbbqbrbttyl"-type posts in 5...4...3...2...




...bets on whether cj's gonna be the first out there edit
[Edited 11/8/05 6:11am]

endorphin74 said:

perhaps she was gonna sit in on the festivities and be the 3rd supposed person in line, but chickened out too soon and went home instead...?

I don't think I've ever run across a more jealous and spiteful witch than CJ. The anger she feels inside has GOT to be ruining her life. She needs to letitgo.

(That was the first time I have ever typed in Princebonics. Somebody alert CJ!)

RodeoSchro said:

i don't think she's angry at the brotha...she's a frickin gossip columnist in a town where there really ain't a whole lot to gossip about, except the local news reporters and prince.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I'm planning my pilgrimage now

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

well, i don't know...don't you think it's awful petty of her to write that end bit about only two people showing up for the midnight movie of SOTT? i think she was really reaching when she wrote that. i was almost kind of just barely thinking she'd written a halfway decent gossip column this time, then i read that...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Amen to that. Prince nerds hate CJ so much and she writes about him maybe once every two months.

lovemachine said:

seems like more than that...and she sure writes more dirt about him than anyone else these days, not to mention her little hip replacement rumor that took off like wildfire recently.

i don't have a problem with someone writing gossip about prince...i have a problem with gossip columnists who obviously has an axe to grind with him taking potshots at him in the press. as a writer, i think that's just cheap...there are better ways to air your issues with someone.

EskomoKisses said:

gretch, nooooo...

Anxiety said:

The hip replacement surgery rumor was started by National Enquirer. She just reported that after years of doing amazing dance moves in heals his hips are sore (or something similar) and the national enquirer ran with it.

I don't think that reporting there were 2 people at a movie theater 45 minutes before the movie is exactly a potshot. It's just silly.

But CJ rarely writes about prince these days. I miss the good ol' days whne he was in every column.

But beyond that...who tears down a 3 million dollar home? Is Prince that afraid that a fan would buy it and exploit him?

RodeoSchro said:

I know. It is quiet disgusting actually. What is her deal anyway? I think she is secretly in love with him.

Anxiety said:

not so much petty as what i would expect her to say. little jabs like that are one of her trademarks.

lovemachine said:

well, somebody did try and sell the bathtub from his very first house on ebay not too long ago, so anything's possible.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

did it sell?

lovemachine said:

it just seemed to me that it's just another case of him wanting to change everything like usual. he doesn't come across as the biggest fan of permanance to me.

lovemachine said:

i dunno...last i checked i didn't see any bids on it.

Anxiety said:

(bugs bunny voice) we'll just have to get him some perrrrmanamanence...

Anxiety said:

Except he isn't rebuilding (or least hasn't applied for permits yet according to the story). I personally think he is leaving Minnesota for good and will sell the land to a developer but I bet the house would have fetched more (or maybe not because it is WAY too nice for the neighborhood and who would want a mansion in the middle of suburbia?)


I've heard for a while that Paisley park is a ghosttown.

I mean if LA is where he is living and is happy I guess it would be cheaper to build a top of the line studio on his property then to try and maintain Paisley Park and his houses here. I mean he wouldn't have to build a studio with the soundstage and all the offices so it would be much much cheaper.
[Edited 11/8/05 7:33am]

Well, maybe this is TRUE! Maybe Prince is MOVING OUT and going to be SETTING UP SHOP in CALIFORNIA. Better Weather and Better for his WORK. He wasn't Treated so GREAT THERE ANYWAY Lately so I WOULDN"T BE SURPRISSED... He Probably just is MOVING ON. Anybody who DOESN'T THINK PRINCE is NUMBER ONE IS SHIT!

Anxiety said:

2 words Petty Cunt

lovemachine said:

that's funny, i've heard quite the opposite!

Anxiety said:

There you go....who knows. I know Prince was here for a couple of stretches this summer but beyond that I guess its hard to say.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I have my camera and little glass jars (yes plural...I'm gonna make a fortune off of fams on eBay!) all ready...you can come with

EskomoKisses said:

better yet, if you have any extra water bottles from the celebrations you could just put the dirt in those.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

marketing genius!

Anyone have any empty Get Wild bottles?