John Lennons Home, Site of Breakup and Beatles Fame, on Sale

John Lennon's Home, Site of Breakup and Beatles Fame, on Sale



John Lennon's former home in the U.K., where he lived as his band the Beatles rose to fame and his first marriage crumbled, is up for sale for 5.95 million pounds ($11.1 million).



The six-bedroom house outside Weybridge, Surrey, is 24 miles southwest of London and has six bedrooms, five reception rooms, a playroom, sauna and swimming pool, according to an advertisement in Country Life magazine by estate agents Knight Frank.



Lennon bought the property in 1964 and lived there with his first wife Cynthia and son Julian until 1968, when the two split and John linked up with Japanese artist Yoko Ono. Fellow Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison also lived in the area, though Lennon didn't enjoy it.



``It's a nice house, in the stockbroker belt,'' said Richard Porter, who guides 8,000 Beatles fans a year around London and helps run the British Beatles Fan Club. ``In the 60s, Ringo lived nearby and George just down the road in Esher. But John later said he felt isolated there.''



A spokeswoman from Knight Frank declined to comment. The house is advertised in the current issue of Country Life dated Oct. 5.



In 1968, while Cynthia was vacationing in Greece, Lennon invited Ono to the house known as Kenwood. The pair stayed up all night taking drugs and collaborated on what was to become the record album ``Two Virgins,'' released later that year. It was also the first time the pair consummated their affair.



Cynthia Lennon wrote in her book ``John'' published in 2005 that she returned early from her vacation to find Ono both in residence at the house and wearing her bathrobe. The property was sold in the divorce settlement.



Lennon's guests at the house included Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, singer Bob Dylan and comedian Peter Cook. Lennon subsequently married Ono in March 1969, and moved to Tittenhurst Park in Ascot in southeast England. Two years later he moved again to New York, where he lived until suffering a fatal shooting in December 1980.



By Kitty Donaldson

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com