L.A. Mansion with a Great Prince Story for Sale at $30 Million
If you had the money, wouldn't you want to own this mansion? If only so that you could tell the story of what Prince did to it while he leased it for a year?
In 2004 to 2005, Prince leased (rented) an L.A. mansion while he recorded his '3121' album. The mansion, at that time, was owned by NBA Utah Jazz star Carlos Boozer.
Prince paid Boozer $95,000 a month to rent the mansion, and he apparently made it his own once he signed the lease.
This is how Boozer tells the story, and I love it.
During the basketball season, Boozer had to come back to L.A. from Utah for some rehab after getting injured. He told Prince he'd be stopping by for a casual visit; it was no big deal for either party. Or, it wasn't supposed to be.
Boozer arrived at the house to find that Prince had installed a purple carpet that ran from the gate all the way up to the front door of the mansion, and that was just the start of the changes the singer had made.
Other changes included switching the carpeting to black and purple, putting up pictures of himself everywhere, reworking bedrooms into massage parlors and salons, and putting in a disco. It sounds awesome, IMHO.
Now, word soon got to Prince, who was on tour in Asia, that Boozer was upset. Prince immediately called Boozer to let him know that when his lease was up, he would put everything back the way it was. And that is exactly what he did.
Boozer, who bought the mansion (that Elizabeth Taylor had once owned) for about $8.5 million, later sold it for about $12.5 million, attributing the increase in value to the fact that Prince had rented it.
In the end, Boozer and Prince became good friends, as Prince was an avid basketball fan.
You can check out photos of the mansion in its current condition, HERE.
Get a look at Carlos Boozer telling the story of 'Prince, the tenant:'