The Mahwah, New Jersey, home of music pioneer Les Paul, a space where he conducted groundbreaking experiments in guitar design and recording technology, has been demolished, leaving his son Gene Paul heartbroken.
Gene Paul, 82, stated that neither he nor other family members were informed about the impending demolition of the Deerhaven Road property, which was sold over the summer. He expressed his dismay on Facebook, describing the experience of seeing the house gutted as physically sickening and evoking a lifetime of memories.
"I'm not an attorney. I'm a son," Gene Paul wrote. "And right now, I'm a heartbroken son."
Les Paul, who died in 2009 at the age of 94, was a towering figure in modern music, credited with pioneering the solid-body electric guitar and revolutionizing studio production with his multitrack recording techniques. He is the only individual inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
The Mahwah home, purchased by Paul in 1952, served not only as his residence but also as a crucial laboratory and workshop. "That house wasn't just where Les Paul lived," Gene recounted. "It was his workshop. It was his laboratory. It was his journey of dreams. So much happened there."
Within its walls, Les Paul experimented with guitars and electronics, and developed the first eight-track multitrack recorder. Gene Paul, who lived in the home as a teenager and later became a recording engineer, described it as his unintentional classroom, where he learned the craft of recording.
The property also attracted visits from notable musicians, including Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen, according to family friends.
Listed in April, the property sold in July for $990,000. The listing described a structure that could be renovated or replaced. While the family understood the property might eventually need demolition, Gene expressed frustration at the lack of notification and the missed opportunity to honor the historic site.
"If everyone knew that the house eventually had to come down, why wasn't there some effort to honor it before it did?" he questioned. "Why wasn't our family told? Why wasn't I asked?"
Gene Paul also raised concerns about the lack of comprehensive documentation of the home before its demolition and the efforts to preserve belongings. While some items were reportedly salvaged, including handwritten notes and workbenches, he lamented the condition of some rescued artifacts and questioned the handling of the sale proceeds and consideration for the surviving family.
The Les Paul Foundation, which has managed the musician's belongings since his death, stated that historically significant materials, documents, and personal items were carefully removed and preserved before the demolition. The organization described the preservation effort as thorough, noting that even the walls of Paul's home studio were safely stored.
The Foundation also indicated that attempts had been made to contact Gene Paul recently without a response and suggested that zoning restrictions in the residential neighborhood would have prevented the home from becoming a public exhibition. "While the loss of the Mahwah home is deeply emotional, Les Paul's legacy was never confined to one building," the Foundation stated. "It lives in his music, inventions, recordings, instruments, archives, and the countless artists and listeners he inspired."
Gene Paul, however, expressed a desire for a historical marker at the site to acknowledge the man whose inventions fundamentally changed music creation and recording. "Where is something that says: This is where Les Paul dreamed. This is where he experimented. This is where history happened," he asked. "I'm not asking these questions because I want a fight. I wish somebody had thought to ask his family. Nobody asked me."