According to Cathy's account, this is a picture of the living room... and so it is, though I was thrown a little at first, because the pic doesn't really resemble any of the previously seen shots. The lithographs have gone, to be replaced by that odd looking wooden wall cupboard, similar to the one in the dining room (in fact, it may even be the one from the dining room, transplanted to the living room); the hard couches, too, offski. Obviously, therefore, a lot of renovation has gone on... which God knows, should be no surprise by this point.
The clue lies in the doorway - although everything else has changed, it hasn't. Compare with the shot from 1965:
So Cathy would have been standing beside the fireplace, looking through to the dining room. The same spot from 2006:
There are one or two other familiar things, though. John has left the Ramirez guitar lying about. Most remiss of him:
And the round table, which later ended up in the sunroom:
Also note the "famous" black carpet, a magnet for cat shit, apparently; again Cyn and her mum must have rolled this up (the carpet, not the cat shit)(actually, the carpet and the cat shit) and taken it (and just about everything else in the room) away with them, because by December, the floorboards are bare.
It's another fascinating, and intimate shot, affording a glimpse of the interior house, long gone, John.
Many thanks again to Cathy and Lizzie.
Isn't it astounding that the beatles and their nearest and dearest would open their doors to fans such as Cathy? Who was clearly as devoted and respectful as most of the fans who were lucky enough to breach a beatle front door. I'm so jealous, but also so grateful that archive material like this exists, and is able to be shared with us via the medium of the interweb. Sterling work all round fellas (Cathy, Lizzie and not forgetting Kenwood)!
ReplyDeleteKind of odd that the guitar should remain. Is it to have an instrument handy should he return to the gaff? Or could it be left for George to collect, maybe?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, please let me add my thanks to Cathy and Lizzie. This is fantastic stuff, clearly.
I think it's probably just that he hadn't got round to picking it up. Remember, these were taken very soon after John & Yoko moved out. Les Anthony was making frequent trips back to Kenwood to collect sundry items (including a fateful binocular case). John is pictured with the guitar at Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital in November, so he must have had it sent over in the end.
ReplyDeletei'm so glad to see you all enjoying this! i recently came across the 3 photos she had given me in the late 60's, the ones of the inside of the house and of mrs. powell, and i asked her if i could scan them and share them with you all. i told her how this was a great blog and sean and i had become friends. i also asked her if she could write about her visit. but cathy's the one who scanned 17 images for us and wrote the text and captions for all the photos, so, my dear friend, thank you for your time: we're all very grateful!
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