Kansas musicians turned dream farmhouse into recording studio. You could live there

In 2018, Sam Billen moved his Lawrence-based business to a secluded farmhouse sitting on four acres just west of town.

The brick home, originally a hay barn, had in recent years been occupied as a single-family residence. But Billen had other ideas. He saw it as an ideal work setting for the staff of composers he employs through Primary Color Music, which makes custom music for advertisements, soundtracks and video games.

“We made it into this creative sanctuary where you can sit outside and have a cup of coffee on the patio surrounded by wildlife and cicadas and trees and fields, and then step inside into this full-blown space for recording music,” Billen said. “We’ve done a lot of our own stuff out here, but we’ve also had bands come out and spend a few months making a record, or somebody stops in for a few days and records some vocals or something.”

Primary Color Music keeps growing, though — a Denver office was opened last year — and after four years in the country they’re moving back into the city, where there’s more space and faster internet connections. Which means the farmhouse is for sale.

List price on Zillow: $565,000.

Most of the musical instruments and equipment will be coming back to Lawrence with Billen and the crew. But several of the modifications they’ve made to the farmhouse — soundproofing panels through the house, interior windows linking performance rooms to control rooms, a large cedar closet converted into a drum room — make it an ideal spot for a musician or recording artist with enough money for the down payment.

“It’s not a traditional studio with a live room where a full band can set up,” Billen said. “It’s sort of a hybrid that we think makes a lot of sense for how a lot of music is recorded today, where creators often do things one instrument at a time.”

Non-musicians might be interested, too: It’s a four-bedroom, two-bath with solar panels on the roof surrounded by rolling hills, but it’s also just eight miles from all the action on Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence.

“Any room could easily be switched back to regular bedrooms,” Billen said, “but I think it could be a really special, magical place for a musician or group of musicians like it’s been for us. And there’s also a grand piano that’s just OK and an upright piano that’s pretty nice. I think I’d be willing to leave behind. I’m pretty negotiable.”