Kenwood: garden, ca. March/April 1967.

Wot a splendid pic. Just yer average psychedelic family, friend unt felines out for a stroll on a spring afternoon. I'd guess this was taken around the time of the Pepper photo shoot (30th March, 1967), judging by the trousers. (We all know it was the trousers.)

The usual season's gratings to readahs, and, in this instance, a special grating to Mr R.

Kenwood: summer, 1968 - part 6.

Near the western perimeter of the grounds sat the greenhouse, familiar from June 29, 1967, when John decided to do the dead Che, a few months before Che himself did, on John's birthday, October 9, 1967. But I digress:


The greenhouse gradually fell into a state of disrepair throughout the 1980s, eventually being demolished, inevitably, during the wholesale reconstruction in the mid-90s (Rubbish - as it turns out, the thing was still there in 2006, though it's now gone (I think)). Not far from where it stood, the north perimeter steps can be found, leading up past the old swimming pool to the side of the garage; they, at least, are still there, just about. This is how they looked in the summer of 1968, as captured by Cathy Kelleher Sarver:


As previously seen, John and Yoko were also caught in that very locale, out for a stroll in December, 1968:


The next photo in this sequence, taken having climbed the perimeter steps, answers another question about the Lennon-era house. I'll deal with that in the following post.

Many thanks again to Cathy for taking these pictures, and to Lizzie too.

Kenwood: summer, 1968 - part 5.

Having gained access to the house, Cathy went walkabout, as you would. The most striking thing about this latest batch of her pics, is how wild and overgrown the grounds had become during the latter Lennon-era. Compare with the recent Joe Baiardi video (posts passim), which shows everything carefully pruned back; most of the barely managed vegetation was removed in the mid-90s. (I guess, judging by the state of it now, that Kenwood must still have a full time gardener - probably more than one, too.)
I've spoken to someone who grew up in the house in the '80s, and he remembers this lower portion of the garden as being almost completely untamed by that point, a magical place to his friends and him.
He has also been back since, and feels that a good deal of this magical quality that possessed the house and grounds disappeared during the mid-90s renovations, along with the triffid-like flora, the sunroom and the garage.
So it goes.
Anyway, the garden seems to have grown more feral the farther away from the house one got.


The steps are familiar from the 1965 shots...but everything (and I do mean everything) has become a good deal shaggier in the interim:


This pond is a new feature to me; note the ornamental carving. (I have no idea if it is still there, but I gather that the swimming pool has recently been moved back to its original position, and a new ornamental pond sits beneath John's old perch outside the sunroom):


Finally for this lot, a flower garden, somewhere in Kenwood:


I'm running out of ways to say thank you to Cathy and Lizzie. More shots of the garden, and exterior of the house to come.