John Paul Zuni (winner of etc.) has very kindly sent in more images o' the Beatle Belt circa 1980s. And so, without further etc., to Kinfauns.
At that point, the (dare I say it) iconic porthole windows, of John's First Trip renown, remained intact, in common with much else. Rumour has it that they were one of the few bits to have survived the demolition, and this contemporary pic (plus inevitable "then") seems to confirm that:
Except...they look much further apart these days. So the round panes are the same (after all, why not save 'em if you are going to maintain the porthole theme?), but the wall is new, and I suspect this pic means that there really is nothing left beyond a bit of glass. (Even disregarding the considerable history, Kinfauns was quite an elegant bungalow, though arguably somewhat tainted by the addition of various bits and pieces over the years. The house which replaced it, however, seems to have been designed by someone dividing a page in four and then giving young children some crayons and a quarter each. I don't blame the owners, I blame the council for letting them do it. But anyway...)
Back to the halcyon 1980s (good God):
George's John mural long gone, as too was the "crossing":
Of course, it was Harri who designed the pool which was quite guitar-like in shape:
Another vaguely interesting point: note the multiple alterations for which George was responsible - and also the way that stylistic themes were kept intact, even if sections of the original structure (such as windows) weren't maintained:
Then compare that with the current portholes; the older I get, the more I think there is no such thing as coincidence.
Should you wish to see more photos of the contemporary house, and read the owner's reasons for destroying Kinfauns, then go HERE.
Many thanks once again to John Paul (winner of etc.).
It made me sick when i went to see the house. They should have kept it original and built another house on the property. They had plenty of land to do this.
ReplyDeleteOf course, a few things changed in the 70's-80's (like a covered porch at the entrance door) but to demolish the whole house ???
ReplyDeleteBtw, it appear that the link to WSJ is not available unless you subscribe to the newspaper, sadly.
I did a bit of work there when it was being renovated , in was in a bit of a state , the pool was unusable and was filled in and although yes it's a bit of history , it needed upgrading , the circular windows stayed as I believe as did the huge enscribed gate entrance
ReplyDeleteWhen did you happen to help on the renovation. around 2003 ?
DeleteI did a bit of work there when it was being renovated , in was in a bit of a state , the pool was unusable and was filled in and although yes it's a bit of history , it needed upgrading , the circular windows stayed as I believe as did the huge enscribed gate entrance
ReplyDeleteIt's sad so few photos of Kinfauns emerged in the 80's and later on... At the Blue Plaque unveling, there were a few ones available from the later era, but they are only in LQ
ReplyDelete