What to Know About Paisley Park, Where Prince Died

The proprietor’s favorite black-and-white ’67 T-bird can often be seen in the parking lot. But he likes to keep out of the way, partly from personal inclination and partly from business savvy. He doesn’t want anybody, according to one aide, ”to feel like they’ve walked into Graceland” when dropping by Paisley Park. He keeps his various awards, including those for his four gold and eight platinum albums, locked in a basement room. But next to it, almost like tablets in a tabernacle, are tapes of an estimated 100 unreleased songs, plus two complete albums — enough to keep Prince in royalties for years, even if he never writes another note…

Paisley Park, which showed a loss during its first two years, is now a thriving facility. The sound stage has been used for everything from rock videos to Hormel chili commercials. The recording studios are state-of-the-art, and so too, in its way, is Prince’s private office, which features three beds (king, round, day), one mirror (over the king), sofas, chairs and a desk — all built large-scale.