2512 West Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, USA
2512 West Franklin Avenue Home History
Martin Fustgaard, 2003
If Prince ever decides to make a sequel to Purple Rain, here's just the house he needs. Sporting a color scheme that's heavy on purple, violet, and fuchsia, this whimsical stucco house created a bit of a stir when it went up. One unhappy neighbor was quoted in a newspaper story as saying, "I've got Disneyland across the street." Well, not exactly. The house-a scenic affair with a round tower, a busy roofline, and much whimsical detailing, including a sun, a moon, and a star-is actually rooted in the Storybook Style of the 1920s. That style wasn't Walt Disney's doing, but it did come out of Hollywood, and, indeed, this house does have a kind of coastal exuberance seldom seen in the buttoned-down Midwest. Considering what the likely alter- native would have been-a big fat McMansion-it's hard to see how this purple fantasy could do Kenwood any lasting harm.
Citation: Millett, Larry. AIA Guide to the Minneapolis Lake District. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2009.