Kenwood: more greenhouse.

I have dribbled previously that the greenhouse was demolished in the mid-90's. Wrong again; here it is in 2006, very much undemolished, and its exact location clear from the panorama above.
Below - 1968, 1967, 2006:


As far as I know, it isn't there now however - but maybe Joe can confirm that.

Kenwood: latest views, part 3.

Another very familiar little bit of the grounds: the steps by the big old tree near the bottom of the garden, still looking much the same in Joe's recent pic above. Here's a side view:


Again, this same spot features in a few photos from 1965, including the famous one of John attempting to fly away (and let's not read too much into these things, for once):


However, looking at it from the other side, what's this? A new covered swimming pool has been built:


John was also captured on an old garden seat in this locale in 1967, appearing to stare right up it, disapprovingly:


Or something. Many thanks again go to Joe, and more to come anon.

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.

Kenwood: summer, 1968 - part 3.

A colour pic of the bird table, as sported by the resolutely black and white Lennon, on June 29, 1967:


John (as has been seen) would occasionally stroll round the grounds, often in one kind of stupor or another, and converse with the gardener/fans/etc. Cathy's photos (as will be seen) provide the most comprehensive view of the Lennon-era grounds thus far. Thus...

Heaped gratitude to Cathy and Lizzie, once again.

Kenwood: more June 29, 1967.

Another shot from June 29 rears its head, and a fine example too; John in a north-western corner of the grounds at Kenwood, fondling a pot plant (not for the first or last time, I'll bet). The photo comes from a February '68 feature in TeenSet magazine, which has a few other Kenwood piccies, though all those others have been seen before. This one of the attic likewise, but here just slightly bigger than the previously posted image:


Anyone familiar with Pete Shotton's memoir will recognise this room as the scene of an Eleanor Rigby inspired altercation; which may well have been what John was recalling in his final PlayBoy interview, when he talked of being hurt by Paul inviting songwriting contributions from whomever happened to be in the room, rather than from John exclusively; which is quite sweet, albeit childish.
Many thanks to Richard Morton Jack for the new pics.

Kenwood: underview.

Following on from the preceding post, some shots of sections of the grounds at Kenwood. The garden is something of a horticulturalist's playground, and John employed a full time caretaker to look after the various flora, which include holly, red oak, ash, Lawson cypress, laurel and western red cedar trees.

Kenwood: overview.

A fascinating (no, really) look at what lies beneath all that foliage. (As ever, click on it for a good look.) The first thing that strikes the eye is that large-ish area of land to the right of the drive. In photos this doesn't even seem to be part of the grounds - and it looks fairly impenetrable in any case. However, there is an outbuilding (or two) of some kind tucked away in that bottom right hand corner, and one wonders if that area was the location of these June '67 pics.
(UPDATE: That isn't the right location. The greenhouse was situated at the bottom of the garden, and was demolished in the mid-90s. The potting shed corresponds to the outbuilding in the north-east corner, near the bottom of the north perimeter steps, though I think it too has now gone).
Also note the north perimeter steps and the path at the bottom of the garden - that patch towards the bottom left hand corner was the location of the caravan. As I say, fascinating stuff (alright, not really). Many thanks to Eric Nernie for sending this in.