Though Carver County is home to many historically significant people and places, its best-known are probably Prince and Paisley Park, his estate and arts production complex. Located in what was once a cornfield, the site is a key location in Minnesota's music history. In its heyday during the late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, it drew artists and musicians from around the world to record, perform, and socialize.
Paisley Park was built in 1986 at the intersection of Highway 5 and Audubon Road in Chanhassen. A ten-million-dollar, 65,000-square-foot multimedia arts facility as well as a private home, it spans three separate wings. It contains two 48-track recording studios, a 24-track studio, a twelve-thousand-foot soundstage, a rehearsal and dance hall, editing suites, and dozens of offices. The studios offer a range of music-, film-, and video-production tools. The complex also contains its own live entertainment venue, NPG [New Power Generation] Music Club, and a full-size basketball court.
Working closely with Prince, Bret Thoeny of Boto Design in Venice, California, designed Paisley Park's structures and colorful (often purple) interior flourishes. Tushie Montgomery and Associates and Bossardt Christenson Corporation built them. Prince intended for Paisley Park to provide a place within Minnesota for himself and his peers to work on both film and music projects; he also wanted its technology to match or surpass that of its counterparts on the East and West Coasts.
Many musicians recorded or rehearsed at Paisley Park—among them James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, and Aretha Franklin, as well as Kool and the Gang, Patti LaBelle, the Sesame Street touring company, and the casts of various Chanhassen Dinner Theatres productions. Prince himself recorded material for most of his post-Sign o' the Times albums there, from Lovesexy (1988) to Hit n Run Phase Two (2015). He used it as a headquarters for his Paisley Park record label until the venture folded in 1994.
Television commercials were produced and edited at Paisley Park, as were music videos, feature films, and concert films. Prince hosted concerts and parties on the site that became legendary for their convivial atmosphere, size, and noise levels. A raucous after-party and concert held in the estate's parking lot on September 15, 1988, began after 2 AM and lasted until close to 4 AM. Other gatherings marked more somber occasions. After the police-related death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in May 2015, Paisley Park provided a venue for a "Dance Rally 4 Peace" that honored Gray's memory.
When Prince died of an accidental drug overdose in April 2016, fans gathered outside the estate to pay tribute to the artist. Many left flowers, notes, artwork, balloons, and purple mementos at points along the exterior gate. A few months later, Graceland Holdings LLC—a company involved in operating Elvis Presley's Graceland—began to reorganize Paisley Park into a museum. Staff began offering guided tours to the public on October 6.