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Friar Park
Friar Park is a Victorian neo-Gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames, England. Construction began in 1889 and was completed in 1895. It was built for lawyer Sir Frank Crisp, and purchased in January 1970 by English musician and Beatle George Harrison. The site covers about 30 acres, and features caves, grottoes, underground passages, a multitude of garden gnomes, and an Alpine rock garden with a scale model of the Matterhorn.
The main house is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List, and the gardens of Friar Park are also listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In addition to the main house, the Lower Lodge, Middle Lodge, and Upper Lodge are all also individually listed Grade II. The entrance walls and piers of the Lower Lodge, and the railed wall piers and gates of the Middle Lodge are also listed Grade II.
Reports claiming that the building has 120 rooms were denied by current owner Olivia Harrison, while speaking to NPR Fresh Air in March 2004, at which time she said that, while she didn't know how many rooms there are, 120 is an over-statement.
Since the early 1970s, the property has become synonymous with the former Beatle's home studio, known as FPSHOT (i.e., "Friar Park Studio, Henley-On-Thames"). Harrison biographer Alan Clayson has described the Friar Park estate as being "as synonymous with his name as the Queen's with Windsor Castle".
The rumours and tabloid press reports claiming Harrison put the property up as collateral in order to fund the Monty Python comedy team's movie Life of Brian, after their original backers, EMI, pulled out at the last minute, is unfounded. The budget for the feature film in 1979 was $4 million. At the same time, Friar Park was worth less than £200,000. The rumour was an "inside joke" that was turned into a marketing scheme stating that Harrison simply wanted to get to see the film, something that his friend Eric Idle described for promotional purposes as "the most expensive cinema ticket in movie history".
The Friar Park estate was owned by Sir Frank Crisp from 1889 until his death in 1919. The property was then sold at an auction to Sir Percival David. Following Sir Percival’s divorce, Lady David moved into the Coachman's Cottage on the south-west corner of the property. The rest of the estate was donated for the use of nuns belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco order. The nuns ran a school in Henley called the Sacred Heart School. However, by the late 1960s, Friar Park was in a state of disrepair. The rumour that Friar Park was due to be demolished was unfounded and was little more than an "off-the-cuff" comment without any factual basis.
In early 1972, Harrison installed a 16-track tape-based recording studio in a guest suite, which, at one point, was superior to the one at EMI's Abbey Road Studios. By 1974, the facility had become the recording headquarters for his record label, Dark Horse Records. The album covers for projects Harrison recorded there usually mentioned "F.P.S.H.O.T." – Friar Park Studio, Henley-on-Thames. These include the bulk of his own albums, from 1973's Living in the Material World onwards; among them, Dark Horse, Thirty Three & 1/3, George Harrison, Cloud Nine and Brainwashed. The home housed the German artist and musician Klaus Voormann amid his separation from his first wife the English actress Christine Hargreaves in 1971.
In addition to Harrison's solo albums, overdubs for the two Traveling Wilburys releases and the recording and filming of The Beatles' 1995 Anthology project were also recorded at Friar Park Studio Henley-on-Thames. In 1996, Harrison recorded and produced the album Chants of India for Ravi Shankar at FPSHOT. Interviews with family and friends for posthumous documentaries such as 2003's Concert for George, the 2005 Concert for Bangladesh DVD release, and Martin Scorsese's George Harrison: Living in the Material World in 2011 were all conducted at FPSHOT or in the residential part of the house.[citation needed]
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Friar Park
Friar Park is a Victorian neo-Gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames, England. Construction began in 1889 and was completed in 1895. It was built for lawyer Sir Frank Crisp, and purchased in January 1970 by English musician and Beatle George Harrison. The site covers about 30 acres, and features caves, grottoes, underground passages, a multitude of garden gnomes, and an Alpine rock garden with a scale model of the Matterhorn.
The main house is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List, and the gardens of Friar Park are also listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In addition to the main house, the Lower Lodge, Middle Lodge, and Upper Lodge are all also individually listed Grade II. The entrance walls and piers of the Lower Lodge, and the railed wall piers and gates of the Middle Lodge are also listed Grade II.
Reports claiming that the building has 120 rooms were denied by current owner Olivia Harrison, while speaking to NPR Fresh Air in March 2004, at which time she said that, while she didn't know how many rooms there are, 120 is an over-statement.
Since the early 1970s, the property has become synonymous with the former Beatle's home studio, known as FPSHOT (i.e., "Friar Park Studio, Henley-On-Thames"). Harrison biographer Alan Clayson has described the Friar Park estate as being "as synonymous with his name as the Queen's with Windsor Castle".
The rumours and tabloid press reports claiming Harrison put the property up as collateral in order to fund the Monty Python comedy team's movie Life of Brian, after their original backers, EMI, pulled out at the last minute, is unfounded. The budget for the feature film in 1979 was $4 million. At the same time, Friar Park was worth less than £200,000. The rumour was an "inside joke" that was turned into a marketing scheme stating that Harrison simply wanted to get to see the film, something that his friend Eric Idle described for promotional purposes as "the most expensive cinema ticket in movie history".
The Friar Park estate was owned by Sir Frank Crisp from 1889 until his death in 1919. The property was then sold at an auction to Sir Percival David. Following Sir Percival’s divorce, Lady David moved into the Coachman's Cottage on the south-west corner of the property. The rest of the estate was donated for the use of nuns belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco order. The nuns ran a school in Henley called the Sacred Heart School. However, by the late 1960s, Friar Park was in a state of disrepair. The rumour that Friar Park was due to be demolished was unfounded and was little more than an "off-the-cuff" comment without any factual basis.
In early 1972, Harrison installed a 16-track tape-based recording studio in a guest suite, which, at one point, was superior to the one at EMI's Abbey Road Studios. By 1974, the facility had become the recording headquarters for his record label, Dark Horse Records. The album covers for projects Harrison recorded there usually mentioned "F.P.S.H.O.T." – Friar Park Studio, Henley-on-Thames. These include the bulk of his own albums, from 1973's Living in the Material World onwards; among them, Dark Horse, Thirty Three & 1/3, George Harrison, Cloud Nine and Brainwashed. The home housed the German artist and musician Klaus Voormann amid his separation from his first wife the English actress Christine Hargreaves in 1971.
In addition to Harrison's solo albums, overdubs for the two Traveling Wilburys releases and the recording and filming of The Beatles' 1995 Anthology project were also recorded at Friar Park Studio Henley-on-Thames. In 1996, Harrison recorded and produced the album Chants of India for Ravi Shankar at FPSHOT. Interviews with family and friends for posthumous documentaries such as 2003's Concert for George, the 2005 Concert for Bangladesh DVD release, and Martin Scorsese's George Harrison: Living in the Material World in 2011 were all conducted at FPSHOT or in the residential part of the house.[citation needed]
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