Howe connection: Purple Rain House

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Article and photo by JILL BOOGREN

Purple Rain houseIt may surprise some that the Howe neighborhood has its own claim to the purple one’s legacy. At 3420 Snelling Ave. S. is the house Prince’s character The Kid lived in the movie “Purple Rain.” The 1913 two-story dwelling is a featured landmark in the WaconiaVille Tours, which visit First Avenue, the Capri Theater, Paisley Park and other notable Prince sites, and it’s also a stop on Nice Ride Minnesota’s “Prince for a Day” Tour.

Dennis Dorsey, visiting his brother who lives on the same block, said he hadn’t known until recently it was the house used in the movie and had a hard time believing it was the same one. The front looks a little different than it did in the movie, adapted at one point to accommodate a wheelchair. The ramp is still attached to the side of the house.

But Dorsey has seen and talked with people coming to view the house from as far away as New

Orleans, many of whom had also been to Paisley Park, and Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson stopped by. In the two months since Prince’s passing, people have left balloons, flowers, and scarves at the front door. One handwritten note attached to a balloon read “R.I.P. Thank U for Everything.”

Dorsey is a fan from Prince’s earliest days and likens his passing to that of Ray Charles. “Both phenomenal people who brought us great music,” he said. “He’ll be missed.”

According to Hennepin County property tax records, the home was sold last August to NPG Music Publishing LLC. Debra Larsen, the realtor with Coldwell Banker Burnet, who handled the sale, said the transaction began as a cold call to the agency from a woman in California who said she had a buyer who wanted to make a cash offer for the house. Another realtor in the office informed Larsen, “That’s the Purple Rain house.” Figuring it was a fan she’d never hear from again, Larsen was surprised to receive a prompt return phone call followed by a letter from Bremer Bank, representing NPG Music Publishing. When she googled the group it registered: NPG was Prince’s music company.

There had been some other interest in the property, and the buyers said they were willing to do whatever it took to get it. Ultimately they bought it sight unseen, paying several thousand dollars over the asking price. It was a long-distance transaction, handled mostly online and through email.

Larsen never met the buyers or Prince, but like so many Minnesotans she recalls having other encounters with the musician, her closest being at the old Cooper Theater, which was off of Highway 12 in St. Louis Park. The show before theirs was letting out, but the only people who came out were Prince and Kim Bassinger. It appeared they had rented the theater just for themselves. “We were all awestruck,” she said.

If the buyers had a designated purpose for the house on Snelling, Larsen didn’t know about it. “I’m not sure what their intentions were. I’m not sure they knew what their intentions were, just that they wanted to acquire the property,” she said.

Like the rest of Prince’s estate, it could be a while before we know what the future holds for this iconic piece of Minnesota music history.

To bike the “Prince for a Day” tour, see the map at niceridemn.org, Explore by Bike. The closest Nice Ride station to the house is at 27th Ave. S. & Minnehaha Ave.

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