Allaire Studios
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Glen Tonche is an
estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...
atop Mount Tonche, in
Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...
, near Shokan,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. The estate's house was built in 1928 as the summer family compound of American businessman
Raymond Pitcairn Raymond Pitcairn (1885 – July 12, 1966), son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn, was a lawyer, a businessman, a collector of ancient and medieval art, and an amateur architect. He supervised the building of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, his own ...
, whose family founded
PPG Industries PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By ...
. Since 1999 the property has been the location of Allaire Studios, a recording facility.


Design

Under Pitcairn ownership the compound on was largely made up of two main wings connected by a covered walkway. The balance of Mount Tonche over is under restrictive preservation. The property as a whole reflects a blend of Tudor-style architecture with some Arts-and-Crafts influences. The south wing was a
pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...
configuration housing the main kitchen, two servants' quarters, six guest bedrooms, six full baths, and a massive glass-enclosed mountaintop porch. The wing also featured a 29-by-36-foot dining hall capable of seating 100 or more guests. The north wing housed the library, eleven bedrooms, seven full baths and two-and-one-half baths, three-room servant's quarters, as well as a great room with floor-to-ceiling windows and vaulted ceilings.


Transfer from Pitcairn ownership

The estate remained in the Pitcairn family until it was put on the market in 1995 for $3.9 million, then $2.9 million, then in late 1998 down to $1.95 million, at which time it was sold to photographer and musician Randall Wallace, who then opened Allaire Studios on the property.


Allaire Studios

Since its opening in 1999, Allaire Studios has encouraged recording artists to stay in residence at the facility while recording. Thanks to windows that stretch from the floors to ceilings, the studio offers expansive panoramas of the Ashokan reservoir. The first album recorded at Allaire was ''Harvest Home'', by
Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s ...
, in 1999. Singer-songwriter
Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...
initially recorded her debut album ''
Come Away with Me ''Come Away with Me'' is the debut studio album by American recording artist Norah Jones, released on February 26, 2002, by Blue Note Records. Recording sessions took place at Sorcerer Sound Studio in New York City and Allaire Studios in Sh ...
'' at Allaire; the album was rejected by her record label and re-recorded elsewhere for a 2002 release. (A 2022 anniversary rerelease of the album included many of the tracks recorded at Allaire.) In September 2002 the studio reopened after a substantial renovation. In collaboration with the acoustician George Augspurger, designer John Storyk developed a program for a “Great Hall,” a 2,000-square-foot live environment with 23-foot windows that can accommodate sessions of more than 50 musicians. Storyk also designed a new control room and smaller live studio.
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
recorded some of his album '' Heathen'' at Allaire in 2002, as well as ''
Reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...
'' in 2003. During five weeks in late 2006, the rock band Rush recorded the album '' Snakes & Arrows'' (2007).
Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
recorded ''
Veckatimest ''Veckatimest'' () is the third studio album by the American rock band Grizzly Bear, released on May 26, 2009, by Warp Records. The album is named after Veckatimest Island, a small island in Dukes County, Massachusetts. Produced by bassist and ...
'' at Allaire in 2009 and ''
Shields A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...
'' in 2012. In 2020, the singer-songwriter
Clairo Claire Elizabeth Cottrill (born August 18, 1998), known professionally as Clairo, is an American singer-songwriter. She began posting music on the internet at age 13. Clairo rose to prominence following the viral success of the music video for ...
spent a month in Allaire Studios recording her second album, ''
Sling Sling may refer to: Places *Sling, Anglesey, Wales * Sling, Gloucestershire, England, a small village in the Forest of Dean People with the name * Otto Šling (1912–1952), repressed Czech communist functionary Arts, entertainment, and media * ...
'', with record producer
Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Bleachers, and previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop band Fun and the lead vocalist of t ...
. The producer
John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...
reportedly said that Allaire is his favorite studio for mixing. Allaire was nominated for two Outstanding Creative Achievements by the Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards in the category of Studio Design Project in 2003.


See also

* 1928 in architecture *
List of buildings and structures This is a list of list of buildings and nonbuilding structures. By type * List of abbeys and priories * List of contemporary amphitheatres, List of amphitheatres (contemporary) * List of Roman amphitheatres, List of amphitheatres (Roman) ...


References


External links


Allaire Studios project description
{{coord, 42.0030, -74.1886, region:US-NY_type:landmark, display=title 1928 establishments in New York (state) Houses completed in 1928 Houses in Ulster County, New York Pitcairn family Tudor Revival architecture