His Holiness Penor Rinpoche commenced the search for land on which to build a retreat center in the U.S. after well-attended teaching tours in 1995, 1996, and 1997. His goal was to quickly establish a center where American practitioners would be able to follow the same retreat series as offered at Namdroling Monastery in India during the first months of the Tibetan year and be able to receive teachings from Tibetan masters with the qualifications to bestow them.

He chose 280 acres in rural upstate New York, in an area that is not too close to the distractions of modern cities, yet at an equally convenient driving distance from Canada, the Midwest, and major Northeastern U.S. cities. In addition to land, the property consisted of an abandoned dairy farm with a decaying set of barns and crumbling yellow farmhouse that could be used as a residence.