Kenwood: pre-sunroom shiznit.

Early 1965, and 3 photos featuring an anonymous Kenwood related person; John's renovations remain incomplete, to the extent that what turned out to be the most famous room in the house hasn't even been built yet.
The first, above, shows the door to the laundry, outside of which squat Julian plus said anonymous Kenwood related person, to the right of which would soon see the sunroom.
Compare with the view a couple o' years later:

John and Yoko would also be "photoed" on these very steps in December 1968:

Second, and moving on to the boot: at last, an exact location - half-way up the front drive, a fact confirmed by Dot Jarlett's e-book (of which, more anon):

Frontage and, moreover, etc:

Finally, and thank etc., a spot o' carpet beating outside the living room:

More thanks to Mr L.

Kenwood: sunroom - December, 1968.

It's been a truly dreadful fortnight, but life, apparently, trundles on, and with it this nonsense, I suppose. Which is possibly the gloomiest sentence I've ever typed.
Anyway. A splendid December '68 sunroom shot, found by Lizzie, and forwarded here.
Not sure who the others are, but the beardie looks quite Lennon-ish himself.

Kenwood: June, 29th 1967.

More John on the couch, June 29th, 1967.

Kenwood: more sun & bedroom - December, 1968.

Sunroom close-ups from Susan Wood, and more of John's inveterate tea drinking (and "snoutage"):


Plus one that Tammy just posted, taken from Look magazine, showing more bed:


Dribblesome stuff.

Kenwood: sunroom, December 1968.

More superlative sunroom shots from December 1968; the back wall and cupboards looking a little threadbare following Cynthia's clearance job. No more Safe As Milk (though shurely Lil and Cyn didn't nab those. Beefheart was, apparently, quite critical of the Beatles' more psychedelic oeuvre, which is a bit rich coming from the man who released Strictly Personal (though the phasing wasn't his fault). Still, whatever point I was trying to make when I began this sentence, some time ago, should be clear). Compare with June '67 - and note the re-upholstery of the couch had begun even then:


Enthralling stuff, yes? Hello? Helloooo? Echoechoechoetc etc etc.
Anyway, tea and salad was the order of this particular day:


Further exposure:

Kenwood: sunroom, August 1967.

More (above) of these (below) have just come to light, via Tracks:


Pity about the watermarks, and the piano end remains fuzzy (though elucidation of a sort coming soon)...but these are fantastic. Shurely no more?

Kenwood: more sunroom.

A charming snap of Julian, on the fabled couch in the sunroom at Kenwood, probably circa late '66/early '67. This pic may well have been taken around the same time as the header image above. Or not. Note the rug. Or don't. (See labels below. Or etc.).
Thanks to the fabled Eric Nernie for submitting this.

Kenwood: sunroom - August, 1967.

Sarah over at Meet The Beatles has uncovered a couple more of these shots of the Quiet/Noisy ones, visiting John at Kenwood in the summer of 1967. Again, clearly the sunroom, and, again, no John, which suggests he was either the photographer, or else didn't want his photo taken that day.
Interesting to get a glimpse of one of the fans responsible for these pics; I wonder if Lizzie recognises her. There are a fair few such images in circulation now, and I'll bet around 15 pence that there are more somewhere.

Kenwood: sunroom - mortar & pestle.

Peter Brown's book, whilst appallingly bad on detail (compare some of his detailed descriptions of Kenwood with the photos on this blog) is pretty good on atmosphere. I have no idea how accurate it may be, but it contains some memorable passages regarding John's drug use. For example: "At Kenwood, on a shelf in the sunroom, sat a white, pharmaceutical mortar and pestle with which he mixed any combination of speed, barbiturates, and psychedelics. Whenever he felt himself coming down from his mind-bending heights, he would lick a finger, take a swipe at the ingredients in the mortar, and suck the bitter film into his mouth.On some of his acid binges he would trip for weeks on end, until all the colour had washed out of his vision and he was seeing things in black and white."
As it turns out, Daniel now also owns that very mortar and pestle, and here it is.
Many thanks to him, again, for sending in the photo.

Kenwood: sunroom - altar cross.

Another little piece of the sunroom has survived - the altar cross evident in the French seamstress pics. It was sold at auction by Cynthia a few years back (which means she took it in late '68 as part of her "house clearing", and probably also means that it was originally purchased by her mother during one of many antique buying expeditions).
The current owner of the cross has very kindly sent in a photo. It was originally embellished with an ornate cover (as in the John photo) which has since gone the way of all things. Thus the core cross, seen above, looks a bit different; but apparently this is the very same object, sans cover. The owner tells me it will be coming up for sale next year...
Thanks to Daniel for sending this in.

Kenwood: sunroom plan - part 3.

Gerry has found another bit of the sunroom plan - so this is actually the final section.

Kenwood: sunroom plan - part 2.

The second and final part of the plan for the original sunroom. Many thanks again to Gerry Taylor for sending this in.

Kenwood: sunroom, summer 1967.

Another shot has surfaced from the George and Ringo visit, courtesy of Sara's Meet The Beatles For Real blog. I knew there had to be more of these somewhere. George can be seen lurking to the right. Ringo can be seen lurking in the middle. The painting over George's shoulder looks like it might be of John, and possibly by John too - though it has yet to be identified. So the latest (but I'll bet not the last) perspective on the sunroom from the summer of 1967. Oo-ra.

Sunroom: variants, June 1967.

The most famous sunroom pics turn up with slight variations from time to time, including in colour. Here are 3 variations, and a couple of comps to give the widest perspective.

Ringo, John & Paul: cathode radiation.

One vital, throbbing debate can now be laid to rest. As these pics prove, Ringo, John and Paul all had the same type of television. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they had prototype colour models, supplied by the BBC. These may be them. I also seem to remember reading that George didn´t own a tv in the 60s. John, of course, had multiple teles, on constantly.

Kenwood: summer 1967 re-posts, plus one new one.

More goodies on the way, rest assured, but there is a great set of pics building up from this day, and I thought I might re-post them all collectively, together with a new close-up of John from the same day. I'll bet there are yet more of these. I mean, would you have taken just six?

Sunroom: summer, 1967

Again, various shots of the sunroom, all of which will be minutely examined on these pages, in nauseating detail, in the fullness of time.

Sunroom: table part 1.

Another auction find, the base still has various doodles and scribblings done by a horizontal Lennon, for reasons one can only guess at. "This Land For Homes" sounds like a tip o' the hat to the original St George's Hill Diggers, though to state as much is probably utter nonsense.

Sunroom: Pete Shotton, Julian Lennon, Cynthia Lennon.

A pair of tantalising views. Indeed.