Kenwood & post-Kenwood: lithographs, doll, guitar.

November 8, 1968 - Cynthia is granted a divorce at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, and prepares to move out of Kenwood; November 19, 1968 - Ringo moves out of Sunny Heights, having purchased Brookfields from Peter Sellers; November 25, 1968 - John and Yoko move back into Kenwood for approximately a month; late December 1968 - John and Yoko move to Sunny Heights as Kenwood is sold to songwriter Bill Martin; August 11, 1969 - John and Yoko move to Tittenhurst Park; July 31, 1970 - Cynthia marries Roberto Bassanini.

There, in aperçu, is the end of the Lennon-era on St George's Hill. The first pic here shows the Bassanini-Lennons, presumably at Roberto's flat in Pembroke Gardens, London. The lithographs from the drawing room at Kenwood, part of a sizeable haul gathered by Cynthia and her mother as they moved out in November 1968, can be seen on the wall. Also, Julian has one of the three dolls from the AYNIL broadcast (and I must stop using that acronym), doubtless taken home by John as a gift for his son. Where these dolls came from I'm not sure, but I think they may have been made specially by Pattie and Jennie Boyd; one went to Julian, one to Mona Best (Pete Best's mother), whilst the remaining one could be anywhere. John also took his psychedelic acoustic, familiar due to attic and sunroom photos, from Kenwood to the All You Need Is Love session, and it can be seen on the floor above, or rather below. Thanks to Jeannette for the first photo.

Kenwood: sunroom - doll chair.

As regulars will know, the sunroom at Kenwood, particularly during the high jinks of the latter Lennon-era, was a veritable smorgasbord of the abnormal and the atypical, the quaint and the queer, the uncommon and the unheard of, the fantastic and the, dare one say it, far out; much of it a reflection of John's pell-mell, fitfully effervescent personality - stare into the newfangled colour television, and the newfangled colour television also stares into you. Or something. I sometimes feel that John's drug use may have been somewhat exaggerated over the years (though it appears to be the one thing everyone agrees on), but there is little doubt that the sunroom, as constituted throughout the shiny summer of '67, resembled nothing so much as a cocoon for acid-heads. Odd illustrations, old photographs and caricatures festooned upon the walls, the psychedelic piano to the left, the sticker, poster and mystical detritus strewn cupboards to the right, a panoramic view through windows that were doors, over a garden that resembled a curious (and beautiful) park more than it did a garden in front - yes, this is probably one reason why the room is a source of such fascination to Kenwoodites. Every time you examine a picture of the place, a new detail presents itself. In this case, we have the odd little armchair evident in the photo of John being fitted for a jacket in June, 1967. You can see it to the left, under the Monterey poster. It's clearly not big enough for an adult. Doubtless meant for Julian, it was nevertheless occasionally occupied by a somewhat creepy clown doll - and both chair and doll can be seen in colour above. Many thanks to Lana Baker for sending this pic.