Hook End Manor, Checkendon, UK
Destined to later be the home of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, this storied Elizabethan mansion in Oxfordshire was built in 1580 for the Bishop of Reading, and is thought to have served as a mental asylum during its long history.
Selfridges owner Sir Charles Core acquired the 10-bedroom manor house during the 1950s and sold it on in 1972 to Alvin Lee, lead singer for the band Ten Years After, who built a recording studio in the barn.
Lee put down several albums at the studio but let go of the property, which was snapped up by Pink Floyd’s Gilmour in 1980. The band’s giant inflatable pig was stored on the premises and two Pink Floyd LPs were recorded in the studio. Gilmour sold up in 1986, and the manor house and recording studio eventually passed to Frankie Goes to Hollywood producer Trevor Horn.
Horn transformed the property into Hookend Productions, which was the UK’s most luxurious and state-of-the-art recording venue from the late 1980s to 2000s. An impressive line-up of musicians recorded singles and albums there, including Rod Stewart, the Manic Street Preachers, Seal and the Smiths.
