Let it be… built! George Harrison’s widow applies to build electric buggy garage and workshop in the grounds of Beatles legend’s £75M mansion
- EXCLUSIVE: Olivia Harrison, 75, hopes to press ahead with garage and workshop
- Plans include place to park electric golf buggies used to travel around 62 acres
George Harrison’s widow is looking to build a garage and a new workshop amid a building spree in the grounds of the legendary Beatle’s huge mansion.
Olivia Harrison, 75, is hoping to press ahead with the large garage – complete with electric charging points – in the grounds of historic Friar Park.
George, who died in 2001 aged 58, treated his garden like a temple, buying the Grade II-listed home in 1970 as a quiet escape from London and a place to set up a new recording studio.
It comes just six months after the author and film producer won permission to build an ultra-modern yoga studio complete with an indoor gym.
Olivia wants a place to park her golf buggies, presumably used to get around the estate’s vast gardens, which run to 62 acres.
Olivia Harrison with her late husband George Harrison – who died aged 58 in 2001
Olivia Harrison, 75, is hoping to press ahead with the large garage – complete with electric charging points – in the grounds of historic Friar Park
This is an artist’s rendering of the planned garage on the large historic estate
Olivia wants a place to park her golf buggies, presumably used to get around the estate’s vast gardens, which run to 62 acres
The new building – which will be clad in oak with a brick plinth – is set to be used as garaging, bike and buggy stores
Insiders said Olivia Harrison, 74, ‘clearly had his legacy in mind’ when plans for the new building were submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council
The new building – which will be clad in oak with a brick plinth – is set to be used as garaging, bike and buggy stores.
Standing more than five meters tall and with 134 square meters of floorspace, it will also house charging ports for electric vehicles.
Imaging of the proposed project shows a fleet of gleaming white golf buggies smartly parked inside the sharp structure.
It will use plain clay roof tiles to match the adjacent storage and workshops, while the site is boarded by tall bushes and trees.
Describing the project, plans submitted to the council say: ‘The approach to the character of the building is to deliver a sympathetic style building with oak clad walls to connect its use with the context of nature and utilising design and elements that match with its immediate context.’
It continues: ‘The proposed garage will stand alone running parallel to the existing mature hedge and retaining wall dividing the parking area with the service yard to the south west.
‘The proposal seeks to deliver additional much needed garaging with electric charging, bike store with charging points and buggy parking.’
In plans submitted on the same day, Olivia is also planning to create another building, which is to be used for estate maintenance, storage, and as a workshop.
In plans submitted on the same day, Olivia is also planning to create another building, which is to be used for estate maintenance, storage, and as a workshop
The golf buggies will be used to navigate around the 62-acre estate
Part of the hard standing will be removed and will be replaced by grass
Several of the existing storage buildings will be retained under the planning application
READ MORE: George Harrison’s widow wins permission to build yoga studio in the grounds of huge mansion she shared with her Beatles legend husband
To create the new complex she will remove nine small stores, offices and workshops – including two large metal shipping containers.
In the middle of a wooded area, the hope is to create an ‘agricultural’ look from a steel frame with olive green cladding.
In a matching colour, it will also have steel doors and windows.
Documents submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council said: ‘The design of the proposed outbuilding was carefully considered to match in with the immediate context and natural surroundings.
‘The choice of materials and elements have been carefully selected to ensure continuity with surrounding buildings is delivered on site.
‘The building itself will be constructed of steel portal frame with agricultural olive green profiled cladding.
‘The approach is to provide a simple agricultural look using olive green profiled cladding to blend into the wooded area.
‘Steel doors and windows will match in colour and be of steel construction.’
The building will be constructed using green profiled cladding to blend in with the nearby wooded area
A year after George Harrison’s death, in 2002, Olivia told NBC that he felt most at home in the gardens of Friar Park
A year after George Harrison’s death, in 2002, Olivia told NBC that he felt most at home in the gardens of Friar Park.
She said: ‘You know, it was really nature that he loved.
‘And I think he felt closest to God in nature.
‘Yes, he loved it here.
‘You know early on, he had to get out of London. And so we kept moving further and further away from London.
‘And he found a place where he could get away from the crowds and this was it.’
Musicians including Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison visited the house, which had one of the best recording studios in the country at one point.
Victorian Gothic Friar Park was built in 1889 and originally owned by lawyer Sir Frank Crisp – the focus of a 1970 song by Harrison, Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll).
There are several shipping containers on the estate being used for storage
The 62 acre site with extensive gardens and water features sits just outside historic Henley-on-Thames, the location for the plush annual Henley Royal Regatta
The council specified that building work must take place within the next three years
The 62 acre site with extensive gardens and water features sits just outside historic Henley-on-Thames, the location for the plush annual Henley Royal Regatta.
The council specified that building work must take place within the next three years.
She also spoke recently about her love of the nature surrounding her home, telling Henley Literary Festival about her new book, Came The Lightening.
She said: ‘The book is set in the garden. My life is set in the garden.
‘The garden is a marker of life. I started by looking at the trees in the garden who have been my witness over the last 45 years.
‘When we came to live in Henley George just wanted peace after he had a tumultuous decade.
‘He lived there as a refuge to find a semblance of life.’
The new building work comes amid a spree of building works at the Beatle’s former home, with Olivia gaining permission to build an ultra-modern yoga studio in March.
The building is set to be constructed on a suspended concrete platform finished with porcelain tiles complemented by full glazing walls, iroko wood cladding and a lead roof with painted detailed timber eaves to replicate the eaves detail of the facing pavilion.
Under the plans the back wall, featuring iroko wood cladding, will have a facility for concealing equipment inside to limit clutter
The detached studio features three glass walls, including one with sliding doors, set on a suspended concrete platform finished with porcelain tiles
Henley-on-Thames Town Council also recommended approval and there were no objections from neighbours.
Shaun Tanner Architecture and Planning, which designed the new yoga studio, said in planning documents: ‘The choice of materials and elements have been carefully selected to ensure a minimalist and contemporary building is delivered on site, which also relates to the existing pavilion opposite.
‘The proposal seeks to deliver an open plan single storey outbuilding, with a flexible layout to meet the proposed use of gymnasium and yoga room, with service equipment concealed inside the walls and a section of the platform being external and creating a small terrace in the front, where the occupant can use for external yoga and exercises as well.’
The devotion to yoga – an ancient Indian spiritual and religious Hindu practice – may be a memory of their hippy days.
Olivia shared a life of spirituality with her husband of 23 years – who found answers in drugs, religious texts and Transcendental Meditation.
Harrison even wrote one of his most famous songs – I am the Walrus – while on LSD.
During the filming of Help! in the Bahamas, the band met the founder of Sivananda Yoga, Swami Vishnudevananda, who gave each of them a signed copy of his book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga.
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