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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Friday 18 September 2009

Kenwood: Ken Partridge plans, 1964 - part 1.


Regulars will be familiar with my generally tortuous and laboured attempts to make sense of the layout at Kenwood during the Lennon-era, based, as they have been, upon various plans from long before/after the good ol' Schwingin' Shikshtiesh. Well, one of the "holy grails" (if that's not too ridiculous a way of putting it) has just fallen into my lap (not literally); namely the original "Lennon" plans (click on the above for a better look), dated 23rd October 1964, with Ken Partridge's notes indicating specific renovations...and though it does answer several questions, inevitably it throws up several more.

To start with what is there - we can now see that what was referred to as the den was indeed that room to the left of the living room. The split level nature of the kitchen is now clear as well; I found it hard to visualise what that would have looked like - but there it is. So that window to the right of the entrance was actually the kitchen window during John's time. What's also interesting is how close the ground floor was to the original 1913 layout.

However, and glaringly obviously, where is the sunroom?!? In October '64, it is clear from this plan that it had yet to be built. There don't appear to be records of any further planning applications (I've looked), so the exact date of the construction of the sunroom remains unclear - but it has to be late '64 or early '65. And what about the north-west extension? Well, it's just possible that it was there, but it's not on this plan for a reason - which I'll come onto in a future post. Still, fantastic to have a major piece of the puzzle finally in place.

3 comments:

  1. Hey, i just wanted to give you a HUGE shout out for the amazing work you put in here, i have the same passion but for the Dakota, one day maybe even i'll make a blog about it, but i love and totally understand the detail and passion you go for, seriously great work, and i appreciate the time it takes to do this, it takes sometimes hours out of my day with my blog when i'd much rather be out shopping for crotchless crocheted panties or something else equally as fun, but it's a passion, anyway .. lots of love and admiration for the work AND the design and look of the blog.

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  2. And the same to you, my friend! Where you find all those amazing photos beats me - and you should do a Dakota blog, I'm sure it would be really interesting...

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  3. Greetings from Atlanta, Georgia. This blog is fantastic. Really enjoy it.

    I've always had a strange interest in Kenwoody myself, much more so than the other Lennon homes. Don't really know why - I guess it's because it's where he lived during the Beatles heyday.

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