#friar park

[drpepper-lovers-blog]

George and his literal Castel 🏰

My love for the Friar Park is undescribable 😭🧡

I'm actually number 1 hater of capitalism but if I was as rich as George I'd also buy me a literal Castel

[harrisonarchive]

At Friar Park, 1970. Photo by Barry Feinstein.

“Konrad Engbers recalls how George visited the [garden] centre just after he started. ‘He came in to see me and asked how things were. I told him it was a little slow and he said “I’ll give it a little push for you.” He then bought almost every tree I had in stock and first thing the next day a motorcycle courier turned up with payment. ‘Ever since then he was one of my most loyal and regular customers.’ […] ‘He had called in to another nursery just along the road from mine,’ said Konrad. ‘The owner there told him he didn’t serve hippies and to clear off. I had no idea who he was but we got talking and he began to visit regularly. ‘There was a small hut in the nursery that I had converted into a bar. We used to sit together and enjoy a couple of drinks. I remember one particular occasion when he played his guitar there for me.’ And George would walk down the hill from Friar Park to the market where Konrad ran a stall. ‘He would wait in the queue, take his turn and never expected any preferential treatment. One day he asked me up to his garden for advice on some trees that were dying. After that, he regularly asked for my advice on any gardening matters.’ […] ‘He was such a kind man with no airs and graces — a man with a truly big heart.’” - Henley Standard, December 2001 (x)

[harrisongslimited]

From countrylife.uk.com

It's amazing what he did with Friar Park.

[hammill-goes-fogwalking]

oh my god, George stop it 👁️👁️

[pattie-remembers]

Pattie Boyd at Friar Park 1971

Something About the Beatles Girls Facebook page

[eroticlamb]

Pattie Boyd and George Harrison at Friar Park, 1971

[blixtbaby]

😎😎

[get-back-homeward]

Friar Park topiary garden throughout the years: top, 1970 (credit: Barry Feinstein); bottom left, original Victorian era; bottom right, 2023 (credit: Clive Nichols)

Harrison sometimes referred to the house at Friar Park as Crackerbox Palace, but, in 1970, it needed repair. Years later, he recalled the condition of the house at the time of his purchase: ‘It was all rotting—and nobody was interested. They were trying to pull it down and destroy it.’ He added, with justifiable pride: ‘Now, it’s a listed building.’

Repairing the house was a massive undertaking, but every part of the garden also called out for attention, as Harrison began to uncover and appreciate the structure of what remained of Crisp’s dramatic garden after nearly 30 years of neglect. Mrs Harrison has vivid memories of these years of rediscovery: ‘George used garden flame-throwers to clear the undergrowth and put two goats to clear the weeds and brambles on the rock garden. He hired and oversaw a team of local builders, who cleared ceramics and shopping trolleys out of the lake, which the nuns had allowed to be used as a dumping ground. And he personally oversaw the workmen he hired to cement the leaks and lay new pipework so that the lakes could be filled again.’ The topiary garden was completely overgrown, reduced to an impenetrable sea of bushes that had grown into each other and overrun by such weeds as ivy and brambles. Sir Frank’s sundials had long since disappeared.

From Country Life on George Harrison's restoration of Friar Park gardens (December 2023)

[beatlespolls]

[ludmilachaibemachado]

Maureen with her children in Friar Park, 1977🌹🌹🌹

Via Something About The Beatles’ Girls FB🌹

[harrisonarchive]

Photo by Arnold Newman.

“[W]e built a little studio at home to save the drive up and down the M4. And the studio is really very nice — little plug for Eddie Veale of Audiotech because he did a fantastic job and it sounds really nice. You know, because most home studios have a lot of trouble, you know. And it’s not really practical in some cases for people to have a home studio.” - George Harrison, Capital Radio, 1974 “Of all the former ‘Fabs,’ to use his customary term, George Harrison has remained the greatest creative homebody. […] George has rolled out of bed and returned again and again to Friar Park Studios, Henley-on-Thames (or F.P.S.H.O.T., for short) to tinker, compose and do his formal recording. […] Besides 'Cloud Nine,’ George recorded the 'Dark Horse,’ '33 1/3’ and 'George Harrison’ albums in his F.P.S.H.O.T. atelier, located in what was formerly a ballroom of the house. 'The studio was installed round 1971 and there’s been a few updates, cause when I originally put the studio in it was a 16-track. In terms of the monitoring system, after all those years in the Abbey Road EMI Studios, I put in Altec speakers. My experience in Abbey Road was that whenever the Beatles worked there and we thought we had a great sound, we’d play it back on the Altecs and it sounded terrible — ordinary. So they’re very boring in a way — and this must sound strange — but they’re also accurate! See, the Altecs don’t flatter the sound; it’s not easy to get good bass and drum sounds with them. But when I built my studio I didn’t want hype. I wanted what I’m hearing to be what it is. That way, when you play it back anyplace else it sounds fantastic! […] I’ve since made F.P.S.H.O.T. into a 24-track board. […] I’m going to get a few different choice modules made soon, but I don’t really want to go for a brand new SSL board and all that. Automation is nice in some respects, but I got my first skills at Abbey Road, so I prefer the old components, and spending a friendly weekend getting the manual mix you want. Just as I much prefer my ancient Fender Strat.’” - Musician, November 1987 (x)

[harrisongslimited]

George Picture of the Day 5-16-24

Christmas at the Harrison's.

Thank you to owner.

[z5mbiegrlz]

this is where i post from btw

[ilovedig]

If you want to understand George and Pattie better, I could not recommend these strange docs enough.

Friar park is more intricate than I could ever imagine, oh and it turned out, Pattie was the one who found it.

For such a long time I though that Pattie left George because he was too immersed in his garden and the spiritual world and not enough in her, but she was the one who got him into most of these things, from finding the Maharishi to finding Friar Park.

Certainly made me rethink their relationship a lot.

[joeygallagher]

George and Dhani Harrison with The Bones Brigade

Friar Park - Hemsley on Thames, England

Photo by Olivia Harrison (1989)

Courtesy of The Harrison Estate

[blixtbaby]

Ringo and Nancy visiting George and Olivia at Friar Park 1978-79