John (and Ringo) both had insanely expensive fitted carpets...err...fitted, shortly after moving into their respective mock-Tudor piles. In John's case, the carpet (large, black) went into the living room, as seen in Cathy Kelleher Sarver's photo from 1968, and was, according to several of the tomes, a magnet (not literally - that would be ridiculous) for the sundry cats in residence, who used it as a convenient toilet. Delightful stuff, but so what I hear ye mutter, all this has been covered at inordinate length on these pages before.
Indeed so. However, here's the thing: when Cynthia eventually vacated Kenwood towards the end of 1968, she cleared the house, taking almost everything not nailed down and, in the case of the aforementioned carpet, also everything nailed down. She was aided in this task by the housekeeper Dot Jarlett, who was on the outs with John and Yoko for various reasons. To cut a long story short, Dot kept several mementos of her time at Kenwood...one of which was a section of the carpet. The carpet endures, and here it is:
There's more. This carpet now belongs to a Beatles collector who obtained it directly from the Jarletts, and he's decided to sell it piecemeal. This means that any "readahs" of the blog who would like a relic of Kenwood - ie a section of the very carpet that once sat in the living room, can do so. It's first come, first served. Anyone who would like more information about buying a bit should contact the owner direct at houserental481@hotmail.com
Of interest, I would have thought, cat shit and all.
Gulp...the fact that I am even considering this is causimg me concerm. No, no, no...surely not
ReplyDeleteI worked in the house as aprentice Electrician when house was refubished 1963/64, I remember carpet had to be sprayed because of static electricity caused havoc with electrics etc
ReplyDeleteRoger
Hello Roger.
ReplyDeleteCould you drop me a line via the blog email address - kenwoodlennon@googlemail.com
Thanks!