Kinfauns: 1969.

Sara over at MTBFR has posted this great pic of George in 1969, and asks which house it is. It's the living room at Kinfauns:

George is picking up a cutout of Sri Mahavatar Babaji...:

...the very one used on you know wot:

Sri Mahavatar Babaji is featured in one of George's favourite books, Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi (and was also the name of one of John's cats, trivia fans). Google away for further info, if ye will. There's also an intriguing glimpse of George's record collection to the right, but the resolution isn't quite good enough to identify much of it. I think I spot Electronic Sound, though. Anyone able to identify anything else?

Kenwood, Kinfauns & Sunny Heights: summer, 1967.

Way back in the summer o' '67, had you made your way to St George's Hill and utilised the naughty knocker at Kenwood, this might have been what shambled forth as a result - a fabulously dishevelled John, resplendent in dressing gown, talisman and norralot else.

A colour shot of the caravan from around the same time:

George outside Kinfauns, engaged in 'graphs:

Mr Starkey at the front door of dear old Sunny Heights, likewise:

I've stitched the following further Sunny ones together (each is a composite of 2 separate photos, fact fans) to provide a wider perspective. The upper floor here was home to the Den, where the Fabs did frequently hang:

No idea who took the black and white ones, but should you ever happen to read this then please do get in touch for a credit - I'd like to hear the story behind them. Thanks also to Joe Baiardi for passing on the colour caravan shot.

Kinfauns: c. late 1990s.

Nick also got a few photos of Kinfauns, shortly before it was destroyed to make way for a carbuncle. Above, the drive (the only part that remains the same these days. The whole section of garden visible through the gate has been sold to allow construction of another new house).
Below, inside the gate, looking down towards t'bungalow:



To wit:



I wonder how long it took the owner after George to whitewash the walls. Though not often. Apparently, before moving to Friar Park, George offered to give Kinfauns to Pete Shotton, who said "Naaaah":



Some you know wots:



And again:



Note how much of George's gardening remained at that point:



And now nothing does. Toodle pip!

Fanks, yet again, to Nick Cowburn for his generosity.

Kenwood/Sunny Heights/Kinfauns: video footage, c. late 1990s.

Some "new" footage of Kenwood (up the drive and back again), a smidgeon of Sunny Heights, and a bit of Kinfauns, very shortly before it was demolished. Oh and a few obligatory "then unt nau"s, plus more of John's Kennie attic mellotron meanderings for noise value (which, the attentive viewer will note, run out before the end, due to wanton "can't be arsed-ness" on my part).

All filming done late 1990s by Nick Cowburn, on good old VHS, and many thanks to him for agreeing to put it up here, as it were.

Kinfauns: 1980s unt nau.

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.).

Kinfauns: March, 1969.

It's always instructive to read what they said at the time, as opposed to what they couldn't remember later, and so it is with this fascinating little slice of vérité from the week after George got "done" by the "fuzz" (who, allegedly, brought their etc. to be on the safe etc.).
The source of a couple of oft-repeated quotes, the article also shows George either spinning away like mad, or else providing yet another "everything you know is wrong" moment vis-a-vis contemporary inter-Fabs relations (though the most telling bit is probably Hari's refusal to raise so much as a titter at John's HDN-style antics. Gilt and gingerbread had clearly parted company).
You'll likely have to download this, and then zoom in to read it. Or not.


Many thanks go to Bruno Dupont for tracking the above down.

Kinfauns: please Go away.

George in 1967, apparently post-EMI session, looking more than a little displeased; his eccentrically punctuated plea first ignored, and then, no doubt, nicked. So it goes.
George was often pictured at this door, which served as de-facto front door, being closest to the entrance gate. It was actually the way in to the dining room:


Thanks to Joe Baiardi for this splendid snap (relatively hi-res too).

Kinfauns: August, 1969.

It's fair to say that all of the Beatles were more accommodating toward the "fannage" than was strictly necessary; indeed, ludicrously so by modern standards, which dictate that every Z-lister (and what a disgusting thing it is to live in an age where such an expression even exists) must, needs must, be accompanied by assorted goons to keep the fevered (and no doubt pished) masses at arm's length. Living The Dream, friends, living the dream.
John, possibly more than the others, was acutely aware of that old Faustian pact vis-a-vis fame/fannage/fetc. On the one hand he resented the daily invasions of his privacy that went along with being "Fab". But on the other, particularly post-"pot"/acid, he had mellowed to the extent of actively inviting "fannage" into his house from time to time, not snarling at them when they were there, and smiling benignly all the while. See the numerous examples on these pages. However, there were times when all of "Beatles" simply couldn't be arsed with it, and understandably so.
In August 1969, John and Yoko were living at Sunny Heights, having finally moved out of Kenwood sometime in the new year. They'd bought Tittenhurst, but were waiting to move in. Still the fannage came; in this case, one Barb Fenick, who joined the throng outside Sunny Heights in early August 1969 hoping for a meeting with the Lennon.
To this end she knocked on the door a couple of times. Cutty long story shorty, John's bearded visage appeared from an upstairs window, and told her to (and I both quote and split the infinitive) "Piss Off".
Undeterred, she headed for Kinfauns. No sooner had she gone for a stroll round the garden than George (looking remarkably, not to mention presciently, like Lemmy) appeared, and told her to, and I fetc., "Piss Off". The above pic captures that very special moment.
It's a simple anecdote, admittedly, but a superlative one; twice in a single day (though I'll bet there are many who managed four in a one-er).

Kinfauns: drive - 1967 & 2010.

I managed to get almost everything wrong in the previous post on this topic, so it has been put out of my misery. (This incompetence was due to seven or eight reasons, downed, as usual, rather too quickly.) Plus, Guus Limberger has now found a bigger version of the above shot, and sent it in together with a couple more "nows".
So here's John's limo, and probably John, clearly leaving George's after a visit. It would be of some interest to be able to pinpoint a date. But I can't. (Beyond, obviously, sometime in 1967, and probably the summer.)
Below, the view facing back up the drive in 2010:


The entrance to the drive, also last year:


...and the entrance to the estate:


I'm going to lie in a damp cellar for a while. Many thanks again to Guus.

Kinfauns, part 4: then and now.

A long, narrow path led to the gate at Kinfauns, and it's still there, as can be seen above right. The house itself is long gone, although, funnily enough, part of it lives on: the plans for the building that currently occupies the site show that several external and internal walls from Kinfauns were retained in its construction, together with a portion of the floor. Also, according the Beatles' London, the "two 'porthole' lounge windows" have been retained, "now installed in a new orangery". These, of course, were the very windows that led John to believe he was "driving" a submarine at the tail end of the dental experience. Blimey. So there we go:


Many thanks to Joe Baiardi for the contemporary pics.

Kinfauns, part 3: a garage, 1966.

Admittedly, this is quite dull. Nevertheless, here it is - the plan for George's garage at Kinfauns in 1966. Like John at Kenwood and Ringo at Sunny Heights, George did do reconstruction at Kinfauns, plus a lot of de-rigeur psychedelic paintwork. He did also do in 1966 a garage, in one corner of the grounds, to house his mini etc. And there it is:


There is still a garage in that corner, but probably not this one.

Kinfauns, part 2: 1960, 1965 & 1967.

And so to 1960. 5 years (or "something") before George got his hands on it, the owner decided to extend, and thus Kinfauns assumed the zig-zag shape familiar from its Beatle Belt incarnation. The thing I especially like about the 1960 plan is that the architect decided to embellish it with the name of the house, in what can only be described as proto-psychedelic lettering. Given the future history of the place, this seems like yet another "nice" co-incidence. Could it have been that the architect's cultural antennae were twitching? And that he somehow tuned into the zeitgeist, foresaw the influence this humble bungalow would have on popular culture, and let his pen do the talking? Could it really have been that?
No, of course not. Don't be so stupid. But, still, I like these things. Very much.
The house looked pretty much identical when George moved in:


After a couple of years of acid/topiary etc...not so much:


Finally, and with a finality that suggests finalitude, back to the 1960 extension plan, and the reason for the zag in George's zig: more bedrooms, apparently. I suspect this was children related in the case of the original owner. Not so in the case of George:


Part 3 to follow.

Kinfauns, part 1: 1953 & 1967.

Above, on the left, a sketch from the original plan of W. M. Carter, the architect who designed Kinfauns in 1953. The plan dates from August of that year, and represents "details of a proposed detached bungalow with garage to be erected at Claremont Park (The Lawn), Esher, Surrey, for R. Gray Esq.". Compare with the identical angle in a pic from 1967; the garage referred to in the plan was eventually stuck on the side of the house, adjacent to the living room.
One wonders what Messrs C and G would have made of the bungalow's highly psychedelicised state come '67 (another odd little slice of kismet on a related theme to follow in the next post).
This garage wasn't in evidence on the original floor-plan. Note that Kinfauns, in common with Kenwood and Sunny Heights, started off much smaller than it ended up:


The fireplace, also ultimately lysergicised (if you will) by the Fool, began life as follows, again from the '53 plan. The door evident in the Schwingin' Shikshtiesh shot would have led through to the aforementioned garage, though it wasn't used as such (or was it?) when George lived there:


Judging by all this, Kinfauns must have been built in late '53 or early '54 (and enlarged later). More on all this pish to follow.

Kenwood (& Kinfauns): November, 1964.

This is the earliest picture of Kenwood to surface thus far - from around 4 months after John bought it. At this point there was no sunroom, and John, Cyn and Julian were all living in the attic, then still unconverted from its original layout (see Partidge plan). It's probably safe to assume that if any earlier pics come along in the future, they will be from before John's time there; and such may not even exist.
Here's the article from where the above pic came: 16 Magazine, and a straight syndication of the Chris Hutchins NME piece already featured on these pages a while back...except there's more of this, as he then goes to visit George at Kinfauns:


...which is where these pics originally came from. So they too can now be dated as November, 1964:


...or not. See comments.

Yet more Kinfauns.

I think the last one is also Kinnie. By the way, what is the correct pronunciation of Kinfauns? Is it 'Kinfauns or Kin'fauns? It's one of those words that if you say it often enough, you sound like a gibbering idiot.