Over the gate...

Designed in 1913 by Victorian/Edwardian/other architect Theophilus A Allen; John Lennon's house between 1964 and 1968; sunroom, attic and prisco stripe hibernice; Mellotron and caravan; Babidji and Mimi; mortar and pestle; Wubbleyoo Dubbleyoo; curios and curiosity; remnants and residue; testimonials and traces; (Cavendish Avenue, Sunny Heights and Kinfauns); Montagu Square; mock Tudor: Brown House: *KENWOOD*.

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Showing posts with label beatle pets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beatle pets. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 May 2013

Kenwood: 26/2/1967.




Four more from Lizzie's Kenwood file, and fer once none o' my yap.
Above, the master bedroom en-suite at sunset.
Below, psychedelic vomit on the front door:



Kitchen window:



Cattus:



There are various other random shots which I'll put up here in the coming weeks, and so another huge thank you to Lizzie for her generosity.

Friday, 9 September 2011

Kenwood: aquatism - December, 1968.


More wonderous (caveat caveat) Kenwood pics, from the winter o' '68: John and Yoko out for a stroll by the pond. Where this pond was, exactly, remains unanswered, possibly because the question hasn't been formulated, let alone posed. Yet pond there was, somewhere in the grounds. Cathy Kelleher Sarver captured something vaguely similar a few months earlier:


And another, this time with one of John's Kenwood cats, of whom there were at least 9:


What happened to them? Again, I know not, but it would be "nice" to believe that they were taken to Tittenhurst, and allowed to continue procreating (and pissing) (not to mention shitting) at will. If so, their descendents etc.
Speculation hasn't exactly been rife as to who took these, but the answer is Susan Wood: the above two, and the recent ones below (including the pic of John sleeping).
Fantastic they are, but I can't help wondering what else there is. She seems to have been with Joko for around 3 days (including a couple of overnights at Kenwood), with the specific brief to take as many photos as possible. Given that only around 30-40 have thus far surfaced, how many more is she sitting on (not literally, that would be ridiculous)?
Whatever, these are quite good. (Celtic understatement.)

Sunday, 5 September 2010

Sunny Heights: more January '67 tache action.


A couple more pics from the Sunny Heights session, complete with poodle, tache etc etc.


Many thanks to Bruno Dupont for these.

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

Kenwood: more autographs - 22nd April, 1968.


Presumably secured at Kenwood, the date on these is interesting - 22nd April, 1968: ie a week after John and Cynthia's return from India, and just under a month before the Two Virgins night. Also unusual in that they feature, apparently, a pawprint from Bernard the dog (good grief), who was a late addition to the menagerie at Kenwood. Named in ironic tribute to Dot Jarlett's husband, the poor beast succumbed to something or other after little more than a year - just long enough for him to put in one further "public" appearance, sitting on John's lap at Apple as part of the promo films produced ca. spring 1968...

Saturday, 22 August 2009

Sunny Heights: 1968 part 2 - in!



A splendid shot of Ringo inside Sunny Heights in 1968, getting on for the end of the White Album sessions, again judging by hair, not to mention ruffle. As can be seen: Ringo's lava lamp is of a different hue to John's. He has this photo on display on the left hand window-sill. He was known to enjoy an inflatable Pluto from time to time. And yes, the poodle is present and correct. (Are there any photos of Ringo inside Sunny Heights which don't feature either children or poodles?) Merci Bruno Dupont for sharing this one.

Friday, 12 June 2009

Small Room: Three.








Are these photos from the same room? Joe reckons not the colour one. He could be right - it does look a bit odd, but I still tend to think it is this room, for several reasons. The decor in all the pics is the same - the curtains in particular. Second, looking at the floor plans, I can't see any other room which fits with the wall/window arrangement in the colour one. (Of course, one has to bear in mind that the plans are from 2006, and there has been a lot of renovation in the meantime). Third, the camera often gives a distorted picture, which might explain the off perspective in the colour shot. (And how much of the wall behind are we actually seeing in the second dog picture? It's very hard to tell. It should curve round to the right, but maybe the angle cuts off before that...or maybe it is curving. Or maybe it's not the same room!) Another example would be the large living room footage - I must have seen that a hundred times and not realised it was that room until I went back and found small details - it looks strange in the film, but I'm convinced it is the same room. I'm not 100% convinced all these pics are the same room, however, but it remains my best guess. I'd love to be proved wrong - previously unseen pics would do it! Feel free to comment away. Or not.

Friday, 5 June 2009

Kenwood, Montagu Square & Cavendish Avenue: Sgt Pepper drum heads.






I've comped images from the '68 Kenwood home movie to give a better view of the Fool piano in the sunroom, and the Pepper drum head. John, as we can see, then took his head to Montagu Square. Paul got the prototype. A drum head was sold at Sotheby's a few years ago as the one - did John give it to somebody? Possibly; there are lots of instances where someone complimented something of John's, and he responded by handing it to them. Nice head, Johnny.

Sunday, 31 May 2009

Sunny Heights: somewhere or other.




A room chez Ringo - note the television. In the second pic, taken in the same location, that's what John and Paul are watching. Ringo, like John, had a tv in almost every room. Plus, there's that poodle again. Unfortunately.

Friday, 1 May 2009

Sunny Heights: November, 1967.







The final day of filming for MMT took place in the grounds of Sunny Heights. In what was, by any standards, a pretty eccentric year in the sartorial stakes, John hit a new peak by rocking an enormous sunflower. Where did he get it from? The shot of Ringo features the by now obligatory poodle. This poodle (Tigger by name) features in at least 4 Beatles related photoshoots. I am manfully resisting the urge to do what would be a post too far, even for this blog. Thanks, yet again, to Joe Baiardi for sending some of these.

Monday, 27 April 2009

Paul & John: April, 1967 - pap shots.





Shortly after completing Sgt Pepper, Paul headed off to the USA to meet up with Jane Asher, hang out with the Jefferson Airplane, and generally mindfuck Brian Wilson. Here are some papparazi shots of him upon his return. Shortly thereafter, John drove up from Kenwood for a spot of dog walking in Regent´s Park, whereupon another smudger caught the two of them heading back to Paul´s Aston Martin (thanks Lizzie). The picture was published in the next day´s Manchester Guardian, as was. Paul looks a bit jet-lagged. John looks like he has beamed down from another planet. Much as I hate the paparrazi, this is one of my favourite Beatle pics.

Sunday, 26 April 2009

Sunny Heights: les Ringos, 1967.









Domestic bliss chez Richie during the "Summer of Love"(tm).

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

John at home: 1967.


I finally got a copy of the Beatles Book with Part 1 of the John visit. Here is an extract:
“The entrance to John’s estate is marked by a pair of huge wooden gates. We drove through them and up the path which winds around to the front of his house. My first impression was of a large mock Tudor mansion, lots of red brick, white walls and an iron-studded, oaken door. But this door was slightly different. It had been sprayed with paint aerosols in many colours. Over the large knocker was the crest of the Lennon clan.
John opened the door himself. After a quick “Come in,” he led the way into the house.
I was completely overwhelmed with the fantastic collection of instruments, pictures, furniture, antiques, flowers, stickers, models, books, which met my gaze.
On the ground floor there is a large entrance hall, lined with shelves of books stretching from floor to ceiling. To the right it leads to the kitchen, which is situated in the centre of the house, and to the left to two rooms, one very large, one small. The smaller room contained two pianos, one Broadwood, one Bechstein. The mahogany case of the Bechstein was fast disappearing under a psychedelic design, which was being painted on by two Dutch artists, Simon and Marijke. The right hand wall was was covered with a bookcase. In the middle of the room was a television set covered with stickers. The next room was very large with three beautiful, soft sofas in it. In one corner was an extraordinary Chinese screen cutting, and next to it the brass statue with the gorilla’s mask on it, and a pipe stuck in its mouth, upside-down. On one side of the fireplace were three turntables. John is very fond of putting on L.P.’s of noises these days, and one played constantly while I was there, broken only by bursts of All You Need Is Love.
On the shelves near the record player were arranged several of John’s gold discs, statuettes and certificates.
In the centre of the fireplace was a huge colour television.
We next went next door to the dining room. The centre piece was a beautiful antique table surrounded by chairs. The kitchen led off the dining room. There’s a most unusual stove in the middle of the room which consists of a table like surface, built of white tiles, in which are fitted the hot plates for cooking.
Next John took us upstairs to see his music studio. This is only a small room, stuck right at the top of the house. There’s a battery of tape-recorders along one wall; an organ and a piano along another, and on the third is a Mellotron. Then we went downstairs into the garden. On the way down we found a rocking horse. Julian climbed into the saddle, and John got up behind him to give him a ride. Downstairs again to the main lounge, where John flipped a new L.P. of sounds on to one of the turntables, then through the dining room again and into a small room which overlooks the garden terrace. It was full of “things you hang on the walls”, every bit of space was covered with odd caricatures of John, of the Beatles, faded Victorian photos, crosses, statues, you name it, John has already stuck it on a hook on his wall”. © Beatles Book Monthly, 1967.

I think this proves that the ground floor in 1967 was structurally pretty much the same as in 2006. Also, the location of these pics is more certain...




The "small" room I'd say, to the left of the entrance. (This is what Ken Partridge must have been referring to as the "Rumpus Room", not the sunroom). Compare the curtains (always good advice). The Fool-ish piano one also taken in this room, and then there is the pic of John in the bath-chair. This is often referred to as being from his library - but I reckon it could also be the same room - "The right hand wall was covered with a bookcase".




In 2006, this small room was being called the sitting room, and here is how it looked:



The colour pic of John and Julian would have been taken to the left, outwith the range of the 2006 pic, the sofa on the left in roughly the same position as the '68 family shot, the book wall to the right, and the piano wall behind the '06 photographer.

Or not.

Thursday, 19 March 2009

Not Kenwood: but Sunny Heights, 1966/1967 & 2006.













The first pic of John from 1967 is often mis-labelled as being taken at Kenwood. In fact, it wasn't taken there - but rather down the road at Sunny Heights. (Bear with me on this.) Compare the first four pics - John is actually standing outside the rear entrance to Ringo's house. You can see the same spot in the photos of Ringo from '66, behind him. Also note the lion - here is John again, this time also in 1966, sitting on it. The next pic shows the whole back end of Sunny Heights - this one (along with many others) mis-labelled in the Bob Spitz book. Compare with the picture of the Beatles taken the same day as the first John one. Finally, a 2006 pic and two screen-grabs from a similarly dated YouTube video (Joe Baiardi again - thank you) showing the house looking very similar, plus the same area as the John photo and a close-up of the rear door. Whether it is still there now, I know not.
UPDATE-It is. See later then & now Sunny related "shizzle".