Dearly Beloved...

Caissie's Purple Rain House recap

Ok, I should definitely be packing my suitcase to fly to NYC to do some more episodes of “Busy This Week” for QVC+, but right now I have dozens of pics from my whirlwind trip to Minneapolis to stay in the Purple Rain House, courtesy of AirBnB, Wendy & Lisa and…as you know, Busy, who asked AirBnB if I could please, please, please come through. And they really came through! Not only was I invited, but we got to be the very first guests to spend the night there the same day they finished getting it ready. And believe me when I tell you they thought of every detail I could have imagined and more.

I’m not sure how many photos you’re allowed to upload before you break Substack, but we’re about to find out! And yeah, I’ll probably repeat a lot of this on the podcast, but hey, it’s the 40th anniversary of Purple Rain this year, so obviously, I’m kind of old!

Minneapolis, First Avenue, Prince Rogers Nelson Way, The Purple Rain motorcycle

So, maybe some of you were on that Instagram live where Busy asked me to join her & revealed to me that she had gotten in touch with the folks at AirBnB & asked them if I could come see the house & I lost my mind. She & I had been talking about it because we saw the press release online & she was like, “Call them & ask!” But she knew I never would. For the record, a limited number of people are going to be able to book the house like a regular AirBnB & I was just gonna try to do it that way to see if I could get in, but Biz did not want to leave it to chance that I didn’t get to, so she (and her amazing publicist Rachel) took matters into her own hands to make sure. When AirBnB told me I could bring a guest with me, I immediately thought of my friend Val, who loves all things Prince as much as I. Girls trip!!!

We flew into MSP (the best airport, IMHO) and met up 24 hours before we were supposed to arrive at the AirBnB, so we checked into a hotel downtown and went out for a very fun dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in town, and sadly, think we got a little food poisoning. But here’s the thing, neither of us were about to let that stop us, so we went to our rooms (thank goodness we got separate rooms, though) dealt with our tummies and woke up early to hit the streets! I wanted to go see a newer Prince mural that had been painted since the last time I was in Minneapolis, so we found it on the map & walked over. When we got there, we realized we had totally walked by it without even noticing the night before, but what can I say, it was dark & we were both trying not to toss our cookies on the street. Anyway, the mural was glorious by day. Incredible work by artist Hiero Veiga & the many who helped him execute the vision!

Next, we wandered over to First Avenue. If you’ve seen Purple Rain, you know the place. If you’re a music fan who has visited Minneapolis, you know the place! I’ve seen some fun shows & attended some incredible dance parties & even taken a backstage tour there once, but it’s also fun to stop by during the day & look at the walls where rockstars who have appeared there are commemorated & immortalized. I took pics of the David Byrne star & the Amy Klobuchar star for Busy. As Val & I were bopping along taking pics, a First Ave staffer came out in his tee-shirt to say hi & ask if we were finding all the stars we wanted to see. He asked us if we were in town for an event at Paisley Park that weekend & we said we weren’t going to be in town long enough to get to Paisley this time, but then we told him why we were in town. And he got a look in his eye & said, “In that case, walk down the block & meet me at our garage door.” Now, I normally wouldn’t meet a stranger at a garage door, but we trusted him because we saw him come out of the club & he was wearing an official shirt, so we did what he said. The door opened & he let us in, then led us to an area covered with tarps in one corner of the garage. He pulled off the black fabric & there, behind a velvet rope was one of the three motorcycles that had been customized for the making of Purple Rain. GAHHHHH! I’ve seen the one at Paisley Park many times. The other one I hear is owned by a wealthy collector who rides it around. But this one? We were allowed to go behind the rope & touch it (carefully) & take pics with it! It was a magical chance thing that made us smile so hard our faces hurt. Thank you to Ryan from First Avenue for giving us such a rare treat & for visiting with us & sharing your Prince stories with us. Tim Walz isn’t the only amazing dude from Minnesota, okay?

After we were done at First Ave, Val had gotten a text from her friend, Takumi, who I had never met, but *knew* very well. Takumi Suetsugu is one of the most accomplished and in-demand guitar technicians & live music crew members in the business. He’s also very modest. But, if you’re a rabid Prince fam, you definitely know who he is. And even if you’re only a casual observer, maybe this will ring a bell. Anytime you saw Prince playing his guitar & then he threw it up into the sky & it seemingly disappeared? Takumi was probably the one who caught it. And handed it to Oprah to make it look like Oprah caught it. Then he took it back & made sure it was intact & in tune. (I once made Oprah explain to me exactly what happened when she was filmed “catching” Prince’s guitar, in case you were wondering exactly what kind of nutterbutter I am. I had a chance to talk to Oprah & talked to her about Prince, LOL!) Anyway, we met up with Takumi for buffalo cauliflower & stuffed mushrooms & I was, frankly, dazzled. A second surprise treat! This was truly the trip that kept on giving.

After cauliflower, which we were able to keep down, it was time. The sun was setting & the team at AirBnB had given us all the directions & instructions we needed, as well as mysteriously asking our shoe sizes, in advance of our arrival. Someone was going to meet us at the house, so we got in the car & headed over. When we arrived, the sky was just turning purple. No, really. I can’t even!

We met Jeff, from the AirBnB team at the front door & he revealed to us that we were, actually, the very first guests to stay in the place. He gave us each a gorgeous pair of purple velvet slippers to wear inside so we didn’t mess up all the gorgeous rugs & carpets (SO MANY GORGEOUS RUGS & CARPETS) then he stood back as we read a welcome note from our “hosts” Wendy & Lisa. Y’all know how I feel about Wendy & Lisa. Then, we opened the front door into the foyer, which automatically triggered the sound system to start playing “Let’s Go Crazy!” throughout the house. I mean…

For the next 24 hours, we were just in heaven. We ate a sumptuous dinner prepared by one of Prince’s favorite chefs. You may also know how I feel about squash soup & there was squash soup, plus so much more! We ate Prince’s favorite snacks including Doritos, Toblerone chocolate & Rice Krispy treats with peanut butter. We played instruments & did karaoke & tried on costumes & accessories & we hunted for & found a secret space that we swore we wouldn’t tell a soul about, but it was sheer perfection! We lounged. I took a bubble bath with lavender scented bubbles & bath salts in the Computer Blue/When Doves Cry bathroom suite that was so fancy I almost fainted. I slept downstairs in the basement bedroom where “The Kid” lived in Purple Rain & Val retired to the daring Darling Nikki suite that had so many devices, everything that money could buy. It also had a round bed, which, I have on good authority, is pretty similar to the bed Prince once slept on in real life. It also had a real microphone above the bed & cool naked lady wallpaper & even though it wasn’t my room, I stood on the bed & sang. I had to! There was wall-to-wall memorabilia & the decor, which was described to us as what you might imagine that house would look like after the end of the movie, when The Kid had achieved success, was so spot on. I could really see it, y’know? Especially the upstairs bathroom that not only had mirrored tile ceilings & a metallic purple toilet, but also a bar with wine fridge stocked with cold non-alcoholic rosé for us. Words can’t really do it justice, so I’m just gonna dump as many pics here as Substack can take.

The exterior, the foyer, the living room

Ok, I could just keep posting pics all damn day because I was & remain so delighted. The last thing was that Prince’s chef also sent pastries for breakfast & I was so glad to make a proper cup of coffee to go with them. Takumi stopped by to check the place out & share our baked goods, plus some tales of his time working with P. I was just knocked out by everyone’s generosity with their time & their hard work & their memories. It was a very special opportunity that I won’t ever forget.

Oh, and before I go, here’s one last picture I’d like to dedicate to Busy Philipps, who, after half a bottle of Sancerre had “established dominance in her body” while recording this week’s podcast, came out with the HOT TAKE that she hates hats! The things you learn about your friends after years of knowing them!!! For the record, I like hats & I think I look pretty cute in them, if I may so so myself.

If you’re considering trying to be one of the lucky folks who gets to stay in the Purple Rain house as part of AirBnB’s “Icon Experiences” here’s what you’ll need to do. Stay at The Kid's Purple Rain House! I’m not officially part of the team, but if I can answer any questions about my own experience, let me know, because you know I can’t shut up about Prince & I’m not gonna shut up about this trip for a really long time, so honestly, you’d be doing my friends & family a favor by letting me talk to you about it for a little while.

Also, thanks to my sons Lincoln & (especially) Eli, who stayed up late last night helping me edit this clip for social media so it was ready to go at 7AM when the embargo was finally lifted & I was allowed to TELL ALL!