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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Wednesday 26 January 2011

Tittenhurst: then & now.


In brief, Ringo sold it to Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan in 1988, who proceeded to spend a, frankly, atrocious amount of wherewithal on gutting the interior, adding a whole new wing, constructing a bomb-proof swimming pool (I shit ye not), and generally doing all the things that one is not really supposed to do to a Grade II listed building. (The High Court had to step in to stop him going further, apparently.)
Anyway, above - the house in 1969, a few months before John bought it, and the same view now: the area under the terrace has been turned into a room. Speaking of which, here's how the Imagine errr..."turf" (as featured in the video) looks these days:


...and how it looked in the titular film:


The balcony, where the final pictures of the four of them together were taken, is long gone; that portion of the house has been turned into a new wing, because 50 rooms (or whatever it was) isn't really enough, is it? Clearly not:


An internal (fairly obviously, though nothing would surprise me) staircase (the camel photo possibly not there in the Lennon/Starr era)(nor anything else):


Finally, that bomb-proof swimming pool, together with the one that used to be there. An outdoor pool is generally regarded as a sign of wealth in the UK, but the old one looks positively spartan compared to the cash-fest that's there now. One reaches it, naturally, via an underground tunnel:


The Sheik died a few years back, and Tittenhurst now stands empty for much of the year, though there is a small army guarding the perimeter to ensure scum like me don't get a shufti.
Many thanks to JammyEye for the pics.

10 comments:

  1. Ever seen how Ringo had the interior? Me neither. Horrific what Shakeabooty did with the joint. Jesus!

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  2. Oh dear god, someone please buy this and restore it to historical condition, not this tasteless hip-hop-video set

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  3. Yoko Kauf es und gestalte ein Museum daraus.

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  4. Would be nice to restore to the dump John lived-in some great memories of bygone days peace

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  5. what a travesty, nice one idiot.

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  6. John lennon miss him miss him MISS HIM (Beatles song bakwards)

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  7. You would think Yoko with all that money �� would make it a historical museum for John’s fans

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    Replies
    1. Yoko doesn't own the property. How would that be possible?

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  8. honestly think it looked better then and they should not have tampered with history

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  9. When it comes down to it - Lennon was only there maybe 3 years and Ringo had the property for almost 20 but he was spending more time in LA and eventually Monte Carlo. I don't know if he offered it to Yoko, but she had no use for it.

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