Kenwood: return of the Eye.

Ever wondered what became of the Eye? Last seen in Liverpool circa 1985, on display at the Festival Garden site, it subsequently seems to have been found face down in a field (or something), before disappearing altogether.
But now up it has popped, the original owners having tracked it down and regained legal possession; the good news is that the Eye is currently being restored to its former glory, and will then go on display. One of said owners, Bernie Cochrane, has very kindly been in touch with some fascinating photos, and here they are.
Back in 1985, the decision was taken to remove the Eye due to its rapidly deteriorating condition; apparently if they had left it in the pool, within 10 years the thing would have been wrecked beyond the point of redemption. So, out it came; the following pic shows it in the grounds at Kenwood, freshly removed:


Regular "readahs" will spot the blue attic window, also removed at this time, current whereabouts unknown:


Here, the moment when the Eye finally left Kenwood:


Being hoisted into place in Liverpool:


And in situ (Bernie on the left):


Lastly, here's Bernie reunited with it in a solicitor's office, recently:


Groovy. Bernie is currently trying to track down John's original sketch for the Eye, which apparently once resided in the collection of British DJ Mike Read, but is now also in the "Where Doth It Be?" file. Any readahs with information, please do get in touch.
More Eye to follow, at some point.
Thanks Bernie.

Kenwood: footage - ca. 1984.

Footage of Kenwood is, as ye know, rare as the teeth of elderly "Scotch"men. There is the Reporting '66 film, where, thrillingly, they chose to film the gate, and the home movie footage (and actual footage) from the Smile and Two Virgins films. Plus, o' course, Joe Baiardi's fantastic video from a couple of years back, not to mention the unseen BBC clip from 1968. Or the Austrian TV footage from December of that year. Also John's home movies.
Actually, come to think of it, there is an enormous quantity of Kenwood film, and here is some more.
A news report from the mid-1980s, Kenwood resplendent on a rare sunny English summer's day, and more or less unchanged since John's time, blue window, Psychedelic Eye and all (give or take a re-modelled sunroom or one). The focus is the pool, as the Eye was being removed, heading northwards to go on display at the Liverpool Garden Festival in 1985.
The eagle... err... eared amongst you will notice that the soundtrack to this clip has been removed, due to copyright related paranoia. Nevertheless, this, once again in the context of all this pish, is as good as this pish gets, in this context.
I think I shall now give up.
Thanks to the wonderful KB, without whom...

Kenwood: sales particulars - January 8, 1969.

The sales particulars for Sunny Heights have already been on here (hence two important properties for sale); now comes the corresponding ad for Kenwood, from the pages of Queen magazine, January, 1969. I'd say the pictures were probably taken in the summer of 1968, at roughly the same time as Cathy's photos (see posts passim).
They don't show anything particularly new, but Kenwood pics of whatever hue are always welcome round these parts. Again, these likely date from the period when Cynthia, Julian, and Lil were occupying the house, whilst John and Yoko were living in Montagu Square. Note the blue attic window to the right; more on this to follow:


Another good shot of the sunroom end, taken from one corner of the swimming pool area:


And the pool itself, Eye in place:


There was an owner between John and Bill Martin, though details are sketchy. Bill bought the house in around 1970, and owned it into the 1980s.
Many thanks to our old buddy Mark Lewisohn for digging this one out of the archive.

Kenwood: June 29, 1967.

Is there no end to these June 29, 1967 Kenwood pics? It would seem not. John and Julian, on the diving board. Actually, I think this one may have been on here before, but in appalling quality.

Kenwood: then & thens.

Some new perspectives on '80s-model Kenwood. (Plus, with stultifying predictability, some "thens" from 1967.)
The above shows the view down to the pool, from the steps beside the sunroom, just before the Eye was removed in the mid-1980s. At that point, Kenwood (and this view in particular) was still remarkably similar to you know when (with the exception of a bit more "bush").
Below, a bit closer. Note both that the pool has been emptied to allow the removal of the Eye, and the difference that viewing it through water makes (as in the '67 shot).
Very clever, that. (Possibly.)


Next up, John's fabled "perch", where he spent much of 1967, staring into space. Sitting in an English garden, waiting for blah blah etc etc. By the mid-'80s, this view had hardly changed at all:


Finally, the garage "end" - John built this (not literally), and it is all gone now. But back then, the only real difference was the sunroom. It's a moot point whether that is a completely new structure, or simply John's one modified. I reckon the latter, for what it's worth:


The more or less eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted that the '80s pics aren't photographs at all, but screencaps, taken from video footage.
Watch this space.
(Or not.)

Kenwood: TeenBeat magazine - April, 1968.

Ron de Bruijn has sent in some more material, this time from a 1968 fan magazine: TeenBeat. The cropped, lo-res colour sunroom shot is familiar, but it's great to finally see a good quality scan. ("Kenwood porn" anyone?):


Of course, I couldn't resist comping both of the above to gain the widest perspective:


The pick of the pics has to be the following, however. I'd never seen this poolside variant before - and I'd guess that since its publication in April 1968, and with the obvious exception of those fortunate enough to own a copy of the magazine in question, no-one else has either:


It's another great shot, and begs all the usual questions. (Again, these are all quite hi-res, so click on them for the big picture.)
Many thanks to Ron for sharing this material.

Kenwood Pool 5: June 1967.

A final round of more or less familiar photos taken near the swimming pool at Kenwood by Leslie Bryce in June 1967. I doubt there are many out-takes which haven't been seen from this session, though the colour variations are very interesting. How many of those are there, I wonder.

Kenwood Pool 4: June 1967.

A corrected colour shot of John by the pool (it's usually printed the wrong way round) and another black and white one. Obviously.

Kenwood Pool 3: June, 1967.

Three of John and Julian on the diving board. More pool to follow...

Kenwood Pool 2: June 1967.

The most famous poolside shot from the Bryce session again turns up with slight variations, including a colour one, which I suspect is cropped. Does anyone have the full version?

Kenwood Pool 1: aeriel views, 1967 & present day.

One of the main structural changes at Kenwood is the repositioning of the swimming pool. It was moved at some point in the 90s, thus destroying the lawn in front of the sunroom.
John originally had the pool constructed in 1964. Apparently he wanted a mirrored bottom, which would have been good, provided one didn't mind getting badly sunburned every time one took a swim. Here are some photos of the restructured pool dating from 2006. The area with the chairs was where it used to be. Thanks to Chris Sileo for the improved 60s aerial shot.

Swimming pool 2: panorama, summer 1968.

Another good panoramic view of the pool, stitched together from screengrabs. You can see the psychedelic eye in at least some of its original glory. Is that man taking photos or filming down there? Either way, I would like to see the results...