The Los Angeles mansion that Prince personalized by painting it purple when he rented it is on the market for $29.995 million. The enormous home near the intersection of Beverly Hills and the Sunset Strip was also the residence of Academy Award-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor.
Built in 1953 by wealthy Hollywood contractor and playboy Hal Hayes, the house was purchased in 2004 by Carlos Boozer, a former NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist who rented the mansion to Prince. The music icon ended up converting the property into his own purple palace.
“My Realtor was like, ‘Yo, there’s this guy who wants to rent your house. He saw it before you bought it,’ ” Boozer told the Chicago Tribune in 2011. “I was like, ‘I’m not leasing my house. I’ve never done that. The amount of money he was willing to pay made me reconsider. And that’s how Prince rented my house out.”
Multiple media outlets reported Prince paid $70,000 per month for the 10-bedroom, 11-bath home, stated the Chicago Tribune, adding that “the same reports said attorneys for Boozer filed suit against Prince/MPG Music for violating the eight-month lease because of painting the exterior with purple striping, ‘prince’ symbol, and numbers 3121 (one of Prince’s albums).”
Boozer’s attorneys eventually dismissed the suit, and Boozer said he signed an agreement not to talk about specifics. Before he moved out, Prince restored the home to its original state.
The estate was designed for entertaining and saw many grand parties over the years, including a few Prince concerts for his friends. In addition to the main house of approximately 15,101 square feet, the compound of 2.15 acres includes an English Tudor home of 3,300 square feet along with two extra parcels of land.
The palatial main house includes 10 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a ballroom, wine room, large terraces for entertaining with views of the city and ocean, a rooftop tennis court, indoor gym, sports court and a pool with a stone grotto reminiscent of the Playboy Mansion.
Now seeking its next new owner, the mansion is also for lease at $80,000 per month. The estate is brokered by The Oppenheim Group of West Hollywood, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.