Kenwood: den - June, 1967.

A colour shot of Simon Posthuma and Marijke Koger working on John's piano in the den room, which occupies part of the southern ground floor at Kenwood. This particular keyboard was, seemingly, John's favourite; originally belonging to his Aunt Mimi, it was almost certainly the one he used to write I Am The Walrus, amongst other amaranthine chefs-d'ouevre. Upon completion of the Fool's paint job, the piano was moved through to the sunroom, where it can be glimpsed in several snapshots occupying the wall next to the internal entrance (again see posts passim). Simon was kind enough to respond to a recent email from me, and confirmed that, as far as he knows, the piano that now sits in Friar Park is this very one. (That may seem fairly obvious, but it was possible that George had the Fool do a copy of John's, or vice-versa.) Note 1: Kenwood's expensive black carpeting (often mentioned in Beatles books as being particularly prone to cat-shit related trauma) can be seen in the hall. Note 2: John is filming the proceedings. Does Yoko have this footage? Note 3: The other smaller keyboard visible in the Kenwood pics above is also intriguing. John took this piano with him to Tittenhurst - it can be seen in at least one photo circa 1971. Why didn't he also take the psychedelic piano? How did it end up at Friar Park? I, for one, dunno. (Note also the Ivor Novello awards on top of it).
Simon's very interesting website has now been added to the Friends & Neighbours section on the right, and if you can speak Dutch then go and buy his autobiography - A Fool Such As I. (An English language version is currently being negotiated, so fingers crossed for that.)

Kenwood: entrance hall?

Anonymous left a comment suggesting that the bathchair photos could be from the front entrance. Pics 3 and 4 here are definitely of that location. The Beatles Book monthly had this to say about it - "On the ground floor there is a large entrance hall, lined with shelves of books stretching from floor to ceiling". As Anonymous points out, there is also the coat stand in the bath chair pics, which would suggest an entrance hall. However, again in BBM, this of the "small" room - "The right hand wall was covered with a book-case". Pete Shotton remembers there being a library where Cyn spent a lot of her time - presumably this room, and not the hall. The coat stand does suggest it is the hall - but John was eccentric enough to put a coat stand anywhere, and the small room was just off the front entrance in any case. But yes, it probably is the entrance hall.
Finally, another bit of trivia - here is Lizzie Bravo's pic with John again, and you can see his jacket hanging on the coat stand.

Small Room: 4.

The 2006 pic I have actually shows a bit more of the left hand side of the room, so I've re-scanned it. Does this help? Or add to the confusion? The colour pic couch would be where the left-hand lamp table is in this pic. Or not. Again.

Small Room: Three.

Are these photos from the same room? Joe reckons not the colour one. He could be right - it does look a bit odd, but I still tend to think it is this room, for several reasons. The decor in all the pics is the same - the curtains in particular. Second, looking at the floor plans, I can't see any other room which fits with the wall/window arrangement in the colour one. (Of course, one has to bear in mind that the plans are from 2006, and there has been a lot of renovation in the meantime). Third, the camera often gives a distorted picture, which might explain the off perspective in the colour shot. (And how much of the wall behind are we actually seeing in the second dog picture? It's very hard to tell. It should curve round to the right, but maybe the angle cuts off before that...or maybe it is curving. Or maybe it's not the same room!) Another example would be the large living room footage - I must have seen that a hundred times and not realised it was that room until I went back and found small details - it looks strange in the film, but I'm convinced it is the same room. I'm not 100% convinced all these pics are the same room, however, but it remains my best guess. I'd love to be proved wrong - previously unseen pics would do it! Feel free to comment away. Or not.

Kenwood: den, 1966, 1967 & 2006.

One of the most interesting and ambiguous rooms in Kenwood (in an E.L. Wisty voice). This room is, possibly, what has been variously called the small room (by the Beatles Book during their June '67 visit - details HERE), the "rumpus" room (by Ken Partridge - details HERE), the study (by Pauline Lennon in her book), the library (by Cynthia) and the sitting room (by post-Lennon owners of Kenwood). Remember - confusion is nothing new. The two pics above, I think, were almost certainly taken there, as well as the familiar pics by Ringo from January '68 showing John, Cyn, Julian and Bernard the dog on a couch. Once again - look at the curtains in all these photos. Stare at them. GO ON.
UPDATE - this room was actually what the Lennons would have referred to as the "den", thus rendering most of the above redundant.

John at home: 1967.

I finally got a copy of the Beatles Book with Part 1 of the John visit. Here is an extract:
“The entrance to John’s estate is marked by a pair of huge wooden gates. We drove through them and up the path which winds around to the front of his house. My first impression was of a large mock Tudor mansion, lots of red brick, white walls and an iron-studded, oaken door. But this door was slightly different. It had been sprayed with paint aerosols in many colours. Over the large knocker was the crest of the Lennon clan.
John opened the door himself. After a quick “Come in,” he led the way into the house.
I was completely overwhelmed with the fantastic collection of instruments, pictures, furniture, antiques, flowers, stickers, models, books, which met my gaze.
On the ground floor there is a large entrance hall, lined with shelves of books stretching from floor to ceiling. To the right it leads to the kitchen, which is situated in the centre of the house, and to the left to two rooms, one very large, one small. The smaller room contained two pianos, one Broadwood, one Bechstein. The mahogany case of the Bechstein was fast disappearing under a psychedelic design, which was being painted on by two Dutch artists, Simon and Marijke. The right hand wall was was covered with a bookcase. In the middle of the room was a television set covered with stickers. The next room was very large with three beautiful, soft sofas in it. In one corner was an extraordinary Chinese screen cutting, and next to it the brass statue with the gorilla’s mask on it, and a pipe stuck in its mouth, upside-down. On one side of the fireplace were three turntables. John is very fond of putting on L.P.’s of noises these days, and one played constantly while I was there, broken only by bursts of All You Need Is Love.
On the shelves near the record player were arranged several of John’s gold discs, statuettes and certificates.
In the centre of the fireplace was a huge colour television.
We next went next door to the dining room. The centre piece was a beautiful antique table surrounded by chairs. The kitchen led off the dining room. There’s a most unusual stove in the middle of the room which consists of a table like surface, built of white tiles, in which are fitted the hot plates for cooking.
Next John took us upstairs to see his music studio. This is only a small room, stuck right at the top of the house. There’s a battery of tape-recorders along one wall; an organ and a piano along another, and on the third is a Mellotron. Then we went downstairs into the garden. On the way down we found a rocking horse. Julian climbed into the saddle, and John got up behind him to give him a ride. Downstairs again to the main lounge, where John flipped a new L.P. of sounds on to one of the turntables, then through the dining room again and into a small room which overlooks the garden terrace. It was full of “things you hang on the walls”, every bit of space was covered with odd caricatures of John, of the Beatles, faded Victorian photos, crosses, statues, you name it, John has already stuck it on a hook on his wall”. © Beatles Book Monthly, 1967.

I think this proves that the ground floor in 1967 was structurally pretty much the same as in 2006. Also, the location of these pics is more certain...




The "small" room I'd say, to the left of the entrance. (This is what Ken Partridge must have been referring to as the "Rumpus Room", not the sunroom). Compare the curtains (always good advice). The Fool-ish piano one also taken in this room, and then there is the pic of John in the bath-chair. This is often referred to as being from his library - but I reckon it could also be the same room - "The right hand wall was covered with a bookcase".




In 2006, this small room was being called the sitting room, and here is how it looked:



The colour pic of John and Julian would have been taken to the left, outwith the range of the 2006 pic, the sofa on the left in roughly the same position as the '68 family shot, the book wall to the right, and the piano wall behind the '06 photographer.

Or not.