Guitar Legend Les Paul’s Family Left Devastated After His Historic $990K New Jersey Home Was Demolished by Developers

The former New Jersey home of music legend Les Paul has been demolished just months after it was sold to private developers for $990,000—leaving his family in an uproar amid claims that they were given no warning about its destruction.Les, who died at age 94 in 2009, was an innovative musician who built the first solid-body electric guitar and pioneered many musical recording techniques.His Mahwah, NJ, home served as a workshop, recording studio, and the backdrop of the 1950s series he and his wife, Mary Ford, filmed. “Les Paul and Mary Ford at Home” was widely considered to be one of the first American reality TV shows.News of the demolition first gained traction in an Aug. 24 Facebook post from the guitarist’s oldest living son, Gene Paul, 82, who railed against the developers for destroying not only the property but also the history that it carried.“A few days ago, I saw my father’s home—our family home—gutted. It made me sick,” Gene wrote. “That house wasn’t just where Les Paul lived. It was his workshop. It was his laboratory. It was his journey of dreams. So much happened there.”Loading...Les Paul and Mary Ford with their dogs in their New Jersey home in 1957Ben Martin/Getty ...