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: joanna action.

Ah yes, Kenwood.
The above jo-anner must shurely be familiar to the upwards of several people who peruse this...this. Squatting, as it did, in the den, I'd always taken it for just another piano, one of several dotted about the titular pile. Wouldn't John have been composing in the attic, or in the sunroom, and not generally in the den?
Not in late '66/early '67, as it turns out.
Apparently, in 1971, he had a plaque affixed to the side of the above stating the following: "On this piano was written: A Day In The Life, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Good Morning Good Morning, Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite and many others. John Lennon 1971" (see I told you it was 1971).

Thus, if this is to be believed, much of John's contribution to Sgt Pepper was actually composed in the den, now simply a simple room, squatting in a simple mansion, and shurely familiar to etc:

The piano ended up being sold at auction in Japan, though how it got there remains a mystery.
Many thanks to the venerable Mark Lewisohn for scannage.

Kenwood: living room & den - variations on a theme.

Here's the living room in 2006, shot from the dining room door. Compare with 1965:


The door on the opposite wall leads to the den (as was):


This room, at least, recognisable from its previous incarnation. Compare with 1968:


The famous (round these parts) photos of the Fool taken, o' course, in this location. But that radiator wall has been knocked through to make a door:


I suppose there is a limited number of ways to sensibly arrange a room (and if there's one thing I am synonymous with, it's the sensible arrangement of rooms), but what I find mildly diverting is blah blah blah...

Kenwood: yet more Nothing.

Having stated categorically that no pictures exist showing a Nothing Box inside Kenwood...errr...here's a picture showing a Nothing Box inside Kenwood. This pic has been on here before, but cropped; the little blighter is there behind John in the uncropped version:


Also of "interest", given that this photo was taken in the library (aka the Den), is that the slightly wider perspective allows one to gain further clues to the reading material on offer. The only two tomes that I can make out are yer classic Shikshtiesh fare, ie For Your Eyes Only on the left, and something by Dennis Wheatley on the right:


A conceptual prize of Nothing whatsoever to any "readahs" who recognise any others.

Kenwood: summer, 1968 - part 2.

More from Cathy. The den was really Cynthia's equivalent of the sunroom/attic; it was where she hung out. This little snapshot at last answers some questions, and ties together many photos previously seen on these pages. So, to start, some perspective; you can see the corner of the piano in the bottom left, and in position in the Fool shots:


The rather touching pic of Julian fiddling about with pater's tache was also taken here, as suspected:


Long term readers will recall the outbreak of ultra-violence that accompanied the debate about this pic. Was it taken in the den or not? I think this proves it was (note - that's the sunroom couch; which, I reckon, means this photo was taken in 1965, pre-sunroom.):


And, o' course, the Ringo authored family shot that appeared in the Beatles' biography in 1968; once again, this couch was the venue:


Finally, the same spot, almost exactly, from around 2006:


Huge thanks again to Cathy and Lizzie. More to come, very soon.

Kenwood: upgrades.

Both of these have been on before in cropped/crappy form; here are uncropped/uncrappy upgrades. As regular "readers" will know, the black and white one dates June 29, 1967, and has John in the den, keeping an eye on Simone and Marijke painting his piano across the room. The orange cardied "vision" is from a bit later in the same year, on or about the driveway. There's another one here, and I daresay others as yet unseen elsewhere.
Thanks to Bruno Dupont for the better colour version.

Kenwood: more den.

Tammy has unearthed a wider perspective version of one of the colour den shots. It's been slightly cropped, however, so I've stitched it and the old one together to give the widest perspective thus far.
Is that the Mr Kite poster on the right hand side?



Hard to tell exactly, but it could be.

Kenwood: den tv etc.

Trivial, inconsequential, piddling etc this is, but the middle pic is apparently one of John's Kenwood tvs in situ, in situ being, as far as I can make out, the shelving in the den. That looks like the den sofa reflected, and said shelving fits, as do the books on top of the tv - the den also sometimes being referred to as the library.
The June '67 Beatles Book visit mentions John in the den putting stickers on this television whilst the piano got painted by Simon and Marijke, and stickers are indeed present and correct in the photo. (So there we go, though I'm not sure how much farther this nonsense can.)
Ringo, of course, took the family ensemble photos of the Lennons on the den couch, to be used as a giveaway with the Hunter Davies biography. There were also photos of the Starkeys in Sunny Heights, the Harrisons in Kinfauns (in front of the famous round window) and the Macca/Ashers in Cavendish Avenue. Thanks to Ian Drummond for sending copies of his originals (if that makes sense).

Kenwood: the Den - part 2.

Another fantastic "new" shot of the piano being decorated by Simon & Marijke, courtesy of Ron de Bruijn. This is the best view so far of that corner of the den, and reveals another odd Kenwood accoutrement - the triangular object to the right, which resembles a psychedelic dart board. (And any ideas what Velvet Picturesque refers to?)
More (and more revealing) Ron material to come...so, thanks once again to him.

Kenwood: the Den.

Blog reader Ron de Bruijn has very kindly sent me some scans of Dutch periodical PEP 41, dated October 14, 1967, which has a fascinating two page spread featuring some very rare June '67 Bryce variations. (I'll be posting the highlights in due course.) So, first up we have a new variant on the piano painting session. Have a look at the wider perspective evident above: what this does, in one fell swoop, is confirm where several photos were actually taken. Focus your brain, if ye will, on the Ken Partridge plan from the other day - specifically the den area. The circled portion corresponds to the area seen in the photos of the piano being painted - and also the photo from 1965 showing Julian playing that self-same keyboard.


The clue is the radiator, which is on the wall at right angles to the piano; both walls can now be seen thanks to the new piano pic, thus confirming that these photos were taken by the entrance to the den.


It's now also clear that the following two photos were taken in this room too, at the same time as the above, on the opposite side. Note the small seat to the right of the armchair below. In the first pic, John is in the armchair, in the second he has moved on to that very seat. A sheet covers the furniture and floor because...the piano is being painted. Of course.


And the January '68 family get together was, as we've seen in posts passim, taken against the southern window wall. So, to sum up...


Well, I call it fun, anyway. The other portions of the Partridge plan have more secrets to reveal too, as do Ron de Bruijn's wonderous scans, and it's all on the way.
Many thanks to Ron for his generosity in sharing this stuff.