Originally called the Brown House, it was designed by architect T. A. Allen, and built in 1913 by Love & Sons, a local building firm.
Located on Wood Lane, off Cavendish Road, Kenwood was built in a mock-Tudor style in 1913, and was originally called The Brown House.
[2] The footprint and gardens cover 1.5 acres (0.61 ha), of which—under the rules of the building scheme—the house must occupy no more than one fifth and the plot may not be subdivided into more than one home.
[7] Though reportedly not liking Kenwood (describing it as a "stop-over" on the way to something better), Lennon spent £40,000 (were it cash for ordinary expenditure equivalent to £1,024,000 in 2023)[8] on renovations, reducing its 22 rooms to 17, landscaping the grounds, and building an outdoor swimming pool, constructed by a local skilled tradesman, Fred Borley.
[11] Cynthia's mother was given an allowance to fill the shelves of the house with antiques and antiquarian books, and a heavy sliding wooden door was installed at the gate entrance to keep out fans.
This was decorated with various pictures, caricatures and stickers, such as the one from Safe as Milk (the 1967 debut album by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band) and one advertising the Monterey Pop Festival.
[15][16] Photos published by The Beatles Book Monthly show the shelves of the sunroom filled with articles such as a large, ornate cross, a Mickey Mouse doll, and a mortar and pestle, reportedly used by Lennon to mix various combinations of cocaine, amphetamine, barbiturates and LSD.
The giant master bedroom featured a huge double bed, white carpets and an en-suite bathroom complete with sunken bathtub, shower, Jacuzzi and 'his and hers' wash basins.
In 1967, Lennon suggested a mirrored bottom for the pool; being advised that this would be not only impractical and expensive, but potentially dangerous to swimmers, he settled for a large eye mosaic set in the side.
[26] The Lennons initially had problems recruiting reliable staff, but eventually employed a cook/housekeeper (Dorothy Jarlett, or Dot), a chauffeur (Les Anthony), and a groundskeeper.
Jones worked as an au pair and secretary, answering the large volume of fan mail received at Kenwood, during late 1967.
[39] Drugs were taken there in the company of people such as Marianne Faithfull's ex-husband John Dunbar and art dealer Robert Fraser.
[40] At one stage, under the influence of transcendental meditation, Lennon renounced both meat-eating and drugs, and buried a huge quantity of LSD in the garden, which had been obtained by representatives of the Beatles at the Monterey Pop Festival from Augustus Stanley Owsley III.
Although none of the lavish parties they had planned took place – which remained a source of disappointment to Cynthia – various guests (including Monkee Michael Nesmith and his wife Phyllis, Bob Dylan and Peter Cook) stayed or dined at the house, together with old friends like Ivan Vaughan and Shotton from Liverpool, or strangers Lennon had met at a party or nightclub, such as the Ad Lib.
After several days of taking LSD and smoking marijuana, Lennon convened a meeting at the Beatles' business HQ to inform the others that he felt he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.
[45] Later that day he phoned his artist friend Yoko Ono, whose husband Tony Cox was in Paris on business, and invited her to Kenwood.
Cynthia, together with Julian and her mother, moved back into Kenwood for the summer, where Paul McCartney visited her to offer his support.
They stayed with McCartney at his house in Cavendish Avenue and with Peter Brown and then Neil Aspinall, before moving into an apartment leased by Ringo Starr at 34 Montagu Square, Marylebone, in London.
[51][52] They were evicted from this flat by the owner following a raid by the drug squad on 18 October 1968, and subsequent November trial, and so moved back into Kenwood for a short time, which had been vacated by Cynthia.
[63] Items from Lennon's Kenwood period have also appeared for auction, including towels and cutlery, a caviar jar, and the table that sat in the sunroom.