Kenwood: On film, June 1968.

Some of this is on the blog already - but the real find comes around half-way through: the kitchen at Kenwood, on film! Yoko prepares something macrobiotic whilst John hugs a feline. For the first time it's possible to see how the kitchen and the sunroom join up. Please, for the love of God, try to contain yourselves.

This comes courtesy of Revolver TV over on YouTube, who have been gradually doling out interesting, unseen bits and pieces for a while now, and one wonders if the long rumoured Kenwood home movies are going to appear soon. In the meantime, this is pretty, pretty good.

EDIT: There used to be a YouTube video above. Clearly, it has now been taken down. I managed to MP4 it, though, so good for me!

Kenwood: January 1995.

In January 1995, Andrew Hawkins, finding the gates at Kenwood open, took the decision to chance his luck and headed up to the house to see if he might be allowed to film the exterior. Lucky, really, because what he discovered was a building site, overseen by an amenable Irish foreman who agreed to give Andrew and his friend the grand tour. Thus, Andy's camera recorded the last gasp of the house as John would have known it - shortly thereafter the kitchen, sunroom and garage were demolished and rebuilt, and the first floor master bedroom and attic were gutted and reconstructed.
I will try and put the footage on the blog over Christmas, but in the meantime here, with a minimum of verbiage from me, are some screencaps and a bit of context.

ENTRANCE HALL - The doorway visible here led to the kitchen. Note too the large mirror, still in place:

KITCHEN - Split level, an upper "breakfast terrace" and lower cooking area:

Note the floor tiles, some of which were still evident:

LIVING ROOM - Note the ceiling:

DEN - Colour scheme still in place, 25 years later:

Back to the entrance hall, this time facing the main stairs to the upper levels:

MASTER BEDROOM:

EN-SUITE BATHROOM:

ATTIC: Again, compare the photo of John with the situation in January 1995; clearly the same:

ATTIC LIVING ROOM - Next to the studio room, John pictured here above. This room was where Pete Shotton recalled helping with the general concept for Eleanor Rigby:

ATTIC BEDROOM - Home at various times to Fred Lennon, Pauline Lennon, and even John and Cyn whilst renovation was going on in 1964:

ATTIC TANK ROOM - Home to John's semi-feral cats:

ATTIC CORRIDOR - A glimpse of the studio room at the far end:

SUNROOM EXTERIOR - I'm still not sure if this is a completely different structure, or simply the old sunroom with a new roof and fireplace installed:

SUNROOM INTERIOR:

POOLSIDE STEPS:

GARAGE 1:

GARAGE 2:

And there we have it, for nau. As mentioned, at some point before long the footage itself will appear here.
Finally, I'd like to express my thanks to Andy for his generosity in allowing me to use his film. Cheers, mate!

Kenwood: the front door endures!

Above, the kitchen in '06. This, as "readahs" will know, is a new bit of the house, constructed in the mid-90s. In John's time, there was an odd internal yard in this position, next to the garage overlooking the pool. An almost identical shot has been on here before - but, crucially, that one didn't show the external door. This one does, to the left of the pic...and if that's not the old Lennon-era front door, then it's Dylan caps for dinner tonight:


The current front door is substantially bigger than this one. After (or before) installing it, they must have decided to keep the old front door as well, but transplant it to the new kitchen block. And there it is!
So much of this blog charts the destruction of locale, that it's pleasing to report an unexpected incidence of endurance.
Knockers or no knockers.

Kenwood: kitchen.

This 'un has been on here before, but cropped and small. Here it is all uncropped and large: the only shot to have emerged thus far from the old kitchen at Kenwood, though I don't doubt that more are out there somewhere.

Kenwood: kitchen & interview, 1969.

John in the kitchen at Kenwood, circa late 1968/early 1969. This comes from an interview in the Daily Express, published on the day of Paul's wedding - March 12, 1969. It's the first glimpse of the Lennon-era cooking area (ripped out in the mid-1990s, and now a connecting hall). The central raised hobs can be seen, as in the 1964 Partridge plan:


The interview also mentions a portrait of Queen Victoria, thus confirming this pic as being from the breakfast terrace after all:


And the interview itself; "John Lennon hates his superbly ponderous Tudor house in Weybridge. He and Yoko plan to move to a contemporary glass job nearby." Not Tittenhurst, obviously.
The clipping further contains yet more evidence that Cynthia and her mother stripped the place bare:



Many thanks to Ian Drummond for sending this in.

Kenwood: kitchen - breakfast terrace.

Master Nernie also sent me the above pic a while back, taken somewhere inside Kenwood in late 1968. I'm pretty sure it shows the breakfast terrace area of the split-level kitchen. The tiled floor suggests it, and the shape of the wall matches that corner on the Partridge plan just beyond the entrance hall door, which can also be seen in the pic.
Comparing this area to how it was in 2006 (no longer a part of the kitchen), the big window is evident, and there is indeed part of a windowsill in the black and white shot, exactly where you would expect it to be:


Presumably the photographer took a photo of this little table because he or she was amused to find, chez Lennon, a picture of Queen Victoria on display alongside a portrait of the Maharishi.
It's hard to see exactly, but that also looks like a pile of 45s to the right - which again fits with the kitchen idea, as John had a small jukebox there which he would listen to every morning (or more likely afternoon) when brewing tea. (And by tea, this time I literally mean tea and not "tea".)
So, another little corner of Lennon-era Kenwood uncovered. Chin-chin.

Pre-Kenwood: more Emperor´s Gate.

More from Emperor´s Gate. A contact sheet of photos taken in the kitchen for use as the cover to In His Own Write, and a couple from the entrance.

Kitchen: circa 2006.

The kitchen ca. 2006. This is in the space previously occupied by the interior yard, and was constructed in the mid-90s. The Lennon-era kitchen was much smaller, and in the space now occupied by the hall by the garden room; John's (or should that be Cyn's) kitchen was smashed to pieces to make way for this new one. Good old progress.