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This Is a Mystery to Me
An 18,000-square-foot estate in Los Angeles stands six stories high, a glass-and-steel architectural marvel built in 1953 with a roof garden, man-made beach, and a pool housing an underwater cave. Once the home of movie producer Ted Fields, NBA all-star Carlos Boozer bought the property in 2005. Because he was playing for the Utah Jazz at the time, Boozer couldn’t live in the mansion full-time, and to earn back some of the money he dropped, he agreed to rent it at a rate of $95,000 per month to a tenant who asked to remain anonymous.
Sometime later, Boozer learned that the mysterious stranger living in his home was Prince, something he would have instantly assumed when he paid a visit to his house and discovered that the musician had extensively renovated the place and with zero permission to do so. Gold lion statuettes that flanked the entry gates were out, and Prince symbol ornaments were in. Among other changes: Prince replaced the carpets with purple ones, converted a bedroom into a private hair salon, and turned a weight room into a dance studio.
Boozer threatened to sue, but when Prince received the paperwork, he jumped into action to avoid the costly legal proceedings. He sent the basketball player $500,000 as a good faith payment, swearing he’d restore the rental home to its original state by the time he moved out. Prince did just that, and the lawsuit was dropped.
