Les Paul’s son, Gene Paul, says he was devastated after the New Jersey home where the guitar and recording pioneer lived and worked was demolished without the family being told in advance. He described the Mahwah property as both a family home and an important site of musical innovation, making its loss significant to those connected with Les Paul’s legacy.

Les Paul lived in the Deerhaven Road house from 1952 and used it as a workshop, laboratory and recording studio, where he developed ideas linked to the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording. The more than 6,300-square-foot property was listed in April and sold in July for $990,000; its listing said it could be renovated or replaced. Les Paul, who died in 2009 aged 94, was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.