WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports
From the outside, Paisley Park looks like any large commercial building. But inside, the creative genius and mysterious side of music icon Prince is on full display.
“Prince wanted to have a place where he could do all his music and make films and do his tour rehearsals, and to dance, choreography and everything under one roof, which back 25 years ago was quite progressive,” said Paisley Park architect Bret Theony.
The $10 million, 65,000-square foot complex is a curiosity to many.
Theony said it took the better part of three years, from conception to completion in 1987.
Once you enter the front door, you transcend into Prince’s reality, Theony said.
“When you come to Paisley Park, you come in the front, the lobby with the pyramid, the two-story overhead,” he said. “I recall it is cold in Minnesota, so you have another set of doors that you go through, and then you get warm.”
The first floor houses production facilities, including state-of-the-art recording studios, a soundstage and massive rehearsal hall.
Prince wanted no windows in the downstairs performance areas, creating a timeless environment where he could work without knowing when night became day.
The second floor, designed with windows, includes executive offices as well as Prince’s personal haven.
“A portion of it was like a stay-over, where if he was in the studio late, which he always was, he could just crash for a few hours and get back in the studio,” Theony said.
There is even a secret vault in the building, where Prince kept his master recordings.
He wasn’t just secretive about the vault, but about the entire property.
Prince named his complex Paisley Park, Theony said, after his love of print design and a song he recorded by the same name that was released in 1985.
Theony said he will never forget Prince bringing him up on the massive roof to see the view.
“You can see the lakes and you could see the landscape, and it was just a moment that was important for him to go up there,” he said.