beatlemethisbeatlemethat
Apr 08, 2001, 07:32 PM
George Harrison is planning to sell his 120-room mansion because he no longer feels safe living there.
The former Beatle has told friends he is unhappy and uncomfortable in the Gothic-style house since he was almost killed by a knife-wielding intruder who broke in and attacked him in December 1999.
He has decided to consult estate agents about selling the property, set in 34 acres of grounds near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The home he bought in 1970 for just £135,000 is expected to be placed on the market for around £15 million.
Harrison, 57, suffered a punctured lung when he confronted madman Michael Abram in his house on the night of December 30, 1999.
He was repeatedly stabbed in the chest and was saved only by the bravery of his wife Olivia, 52, who struck Abram over the head with a poker and table lamp.
While security has been increased since the attack by unemployed Abram - a heroin addict who was sent to a secure psychiatric hospital indefinitely five months ago - Harrison still feels unsafe at Friar Park.
The guitarist was said to be particularly upset that his plea to be kept informed of any plans to free Abram was rejected by Oxford Crown Court in November.
It effectively means that Abram, 34, who believed Harrison was a witch who had to be killed, might try once again to evade security and climb over the high walls of the house without the musician even knowing of his release.
The decision, described by his son Dhani, 22, as 'abhorrent', is said by friends to be driving the former Beatle away from the area, his English home for 30 years.
'He is quite paranoid at the moment,' said one. 'It is a difficult thing to forget and the memory of that night is stuck in his head. He was a worried, reclusive kind of man already, but this attack has just made things a whole lot worse.
'He is a great believer in karma and has started to think the only solution is to put Friar Park on the market. He has been making a lot of noises about selling it recently.'
Harrison has a home in Hawaii, but has spent much of the past six months at his hillside retreat on Hamilton Island, on the Australian Great Barrier Reef.
'He has been spending more time in Australia,' said another friend. 'He loved the house but feels sour now.'
Built and designed by solicitor Sir Frank Crisp in 1889 using the French Flamboyant style of Gothic, the house is based largely on castles he had seen on holidays.
Once compared to London's St Pancras station, Friar Park's turrets, towers and bay windows combine to create a crazy, fantasy outline that would be at home in Disneyland.
Harrison has done a lot to the house and its grounds since moving there with his first wife, model Patti Boyd, including stepping up security and installing a 24-track recording studio and a garage, which houses his fleet of Porsches and a £500,000 McLaren F1 sports car.
He was once believed to have been considering handing over the property to the Hare Krishnas.
The former Beatle has told friends he is unhappy and uncomfortable in the Gothic-style house since he was almost killed by a knife-wielding intruder who broke in and attacked him in December 1999.
He has decided to consult estate agents about selling the property, set in 34 acres of grounds near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The home he bought in 1970 for just £135,000 is expected to be placed on the market for around £15 million.
Harrison, 57, suffered a punctured lung when he confronted madman Michael Abram in his house on the night of December 30, 1999.
He was repeatedly stabbed in the chest and was saved only by the bravery of his wife Olivia, 52, who struck Abram over the head with a poker and table lamp.
While security has been increased since the attack by unemployed Abram - a heroin addict who was sent to a secure psychiatric hospital indefinitely five months ago - Harrison still feels unsafe at Friar Park.
The guitarist was said to be particularly upset that his plea to be kept informed of any plans to free Abram was rejected by Oxford Crown Court in November.
It effectively means that Abram, 34, who believed Harrison was a witch who had to be killed, might try once again to evade security and climb over the high walls of the house without the musician even knowing of his release.
The decision, described by his son Dhani, 22, as 'abhorrent', is said by friends to be driving the former Beatle away from the area, his English home for 30 years.
'He is quite paranoid at the moment,' said one. 'It is a difficult thing to forget and the memory of that night is stuck in his head. He was a worried, reclusive kind of man already, but this attack has just made things a whole lot worse.
'He is a great believer in karma and has started to think the only solution is to put Friar Park on the market. He has been making a lot of noises about selling it recently.'
Harrison has a home in Hawaii, but has spent much of the past six months at his hillside retreat on Hamilton Island, on the Australian Great Barrier Reef.
'He has been spending more time in Australia,' said another friend. 'He loved the house but feels sour now.'
Built and designed by solicitor Sir Frank Crisp in 1889 using the French Flamboyant style of Gothic, the house is based largely on castles he had seen on holidays.
Once compared to London's St Pancras station, Friar Park's turrets, towers and bay windows combine to create a crazy, fantasy outline that would be at home in Disneyland.
Harrison has done a lot to the house and its grounds since moving there with his first wife, model Patti Boyd, including stepping up security and installing a 24-track recording studio and a garage, which houses his fleet of Porsches and a £500,000 McLaren F1 sports car.
He was once believed to have been considering handing over the property to the Hare Krishnas.