Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

Yoko Ono opens John Lennon's childhood home to the public
Thu Mar 27, 6:34 AM ET

LONDON - John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono opened his childhood home in Liverpool to the public Thursday and said the famously peace-loving former Beatle would have opposed the current war on Iraq (news - web sites).



"I'm sure John would have been terribly upset. And he would have expressed his anger and told them (coalition leaders) off for how stupid it is to have to go through this," Ono said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio before the ceremony.

"As (Mahatma) Gandhi said, 'An eye for an eye will make us all blind.' We just can't solve problems this way."

Lennon lived at 251 Menlove Avenue in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton from age 5 — when his parents separated and he went to live with his Aunt Mimi — until he was 23. He taught himself to play guitar in the four-bedroom 1930s house, and reportedly wrote "She Loves You" in the front room.

Ono bought the house, called "Mendips," for an unspecified price last year and donated it to the conservation group the National Trust, which has restored it to the way it would have looked when Lennon lived there.

"When John's house came up for sale I wanted to preserve it for the people of Liverpool and John Lennon and Beatles fans all over the world," Ono said. "The house resonates with special atmosphere. It was, after all, where some of John's songs that we now hold so dear were born.

"He created his dream in that little bedroom and that dream became the dream of the whole world and he changed the whole world with that dream. So it started all there."

National Trust director general Fiona Reynolds said the group was delighted to preserve such an important 20th century building.

"Through his music and words John touched the lives of millions of people and it is exciting for us to be able to present the place in which it all began," she said.

Lennon, whose other hits included the peace anthem, "Imagine," was shot dead in New York in 1980.

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

and the bbc said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2890129.stm

Lennon's childhood home opens



John Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool has been opened to the public by his widow Yoko Ono.
Lennon lived at Mendips, in Menlove Avenue, Woolton, with his Aunt Mimi from the age of five to 23.

The semi-detached house was donated to the National Trust by his widow, Yoko Ono, in March 2002.

On Thursday, Ono officially opened the semi-detached house and said that "the spirit that changed the world profoundly has been remembered in this familiar place".

The small bedroom where Lennon spent hours playing his guitar has been recreated, with 45rpm singles by Elvis Presley and a poster of The King on the wall.

Lennon and McCartney composed The Beatles' first UK number one, Please Please Me in his Aunt Mimi's bedroom.


The house is close to his childhood haunt Strawberry Field - a Salvation Army children's home that he later immortalised in a song.

Lennon often practised his guitar in the front porch while his early band, The Quarrymen, and later The Beatles, also rehearsed there.

"John was a uniquely brilliant man," Ono said.

"And it gives me great pleasure to see Mendips restored as a permanent memory of a place that formed him and his amazing talents."

Ono asked that the house be preserved as it was when Lennon lived there so people can glimpse the early experiences that helped inspire his genius.

Culture 'icon'

Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the National Trust, said it was "extraordinary and exciting" to have Lennon's home finally opened to the public.

She said: "John Lennon is an icon of the 20th century popular culture.

"Through his music and words John touched the lives of millions of people and it is exciting for us to be able to present the place in which it all began."

Speaking at the ceremony, Ono also attacked the current war in Iraq, saying she was sure her husband would have been "totally upset" with the "terrible" situation.

She said: "There's tension in the world with people who believe in solving things through violence and there are other people who are really upset about this."

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

BBC also has TONS of great pics of Mendips with Yoko (she looks so cute!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/city_...ouse/001.shtml

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

Does anyone know why the National Trust would buy Paul's home and not John's? I know this was an issue because Yoko talked about it and that's why she bought it.

I can't imagine they would think Paul is so much more important than John- especially since the Liverpool airport is named after him. What's the deal on that?

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

Who knows? Still, its great that Yoko fixed it all up, and I'm glad to read that she still adheres strongly to what she always believed in-even though these are different times we're living in. I'd LOVE to see John's house one day.

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

I've seen the outside a couple times. I'd love to see the inside. A friend of mine is in Liverpool right now....I wonder if she's going to get to see it?!

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

Hmmmm.....no mention of the time Cynthia lived there when she was pregnant with Julian....<shock>.

[img]graemlins/peace.gif[/img]

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

<font size="2" face="Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif">That was an awesome website, and the pictures were great! The house has a lot of character...I love the windows! Now, let's hope I get to go there someday [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

Thanks for posting the wedsite onosideboards
Interesting to see where John grew up, it actually looks like what I had imagined from the few pictures I have seen of it, guess they were living in the lap of luxury at Mendips, compared to where the other 3 Fabs lived.. wonder who had this house all that time? did Aunt Mimi have other relatives?

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

frpm liverpool echo:
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0...l&siteid=50061

Yoko opens a 'special place in John's heart' Mar 28 2003




By Laura Davis, Daily Post Staff



WERE it not for the plaque identifying it, the pebble-dash semi would look like any other house in its street.

Yet this was where one of the most well-loved and controversial figures in popular music history spent his formative years.

Mendips, the childhood home of John Lennon, yesterday opened its doors for the first time since it was restored to 1950s style by the National Trust.

At the launch, the former Beatle's widow Yoko Ono, who bought the Woolton property last year, spoke of her pleasure at being able to show it to his fans.

"John used to always tell me about Mendips so that when I first came in here I felt as thought I already knew it. It was not strange to me at all.

"It had a special place in his heart. "I think he is looking down at us and having a good laugh," she said.

With the traffic stopped ready for Ms Ono's arrival, Menlove Avenue was returned to the peaceful state the young Lennon would have found it in.

Here a teenage Lennon and Paul McCartney would practise their guitars, away from the sensitive ears of his Aunt Mimi who disliked their skiffle music.

The central focus of the house was the morning room where Lennon ate his favourite meal of egg and chips at a drop-leaf table while Mimi repaired clothes on her Singer sewing machine.

On one wall was an antique wooden clock, an heirloom handed down by his grandfather, inscribed "George Toogood, Woolton Tavern".

Today, the original, which now sits in Ms Ono's New York apartment, has been replaced by an exact replica.

"This clock was very important to John. He kept it in our kitchen with a picture of me on the top and a photograph of us kissing underneath.



He was the one who would wind it and he wouldn't let anyone else because it was old and he wanted to protect it," said Ms Ono.

In the lounge are the only original artefacts to remain in the house. Aunt Mimi's bureau, where she would have sat answering fan mail sent to Mendips, and her Chinese Chippendale-style display cabinet, where she kept her best china. Lennon would sit in this room, writing poetry and song lyrics.

The dining room is now filled with black and white photographs of the Beatles by Astrid Kirchherr and the famous picture of Lennon's first band The Quarrymen at St Peters Church Fete in 1957, the day he met McCartney.

Lennon's favourite room was his tiny bedroom. Here, he wrote several Beatles songs including the early hit Please, Please Me. Pictures of Elvis and Brigitte Bardot are stuck to the walls above the maroon-quilted bedspread.

"John loved his bedroom. He used to tell me how he became very good at quietly creeping down the stairs so Mimi didn't know what he was up to," said Ms Ono.

The house has been restored to a general 1950s period, when Lennon was a pupil at Quarry Bank School.

Mike Cadwallader, the musician's cousin, helped advise the National Trust.

"It was very much the heart of family life here. We all used to spend a lot of time here visiting Mimi and playing in the garden," he said.

* MENDIPS, Menlove Avenue, Woolton, will open to the public tomorrow. Call 0151-708 8574 to book a visit.

MENDIPS INSPIRED EX-BEATLE TO WRITE POP FAVOURITES

FRONT PORCH John Lennon practised his guitar here with Paul McCartney and other members of his first band, The Quarrymen.

THE KITCHEN Where Aunt Mimi hung one of Lennon's early poems, a framed copy of A House Where There is Love.

THE MORNING ROOM The main centre of family life, where John ate his meals, listened to the radio and watched television.

This is where he is heard the first songs that inspired him to become a musician.

THE DINING ROOM Became Lennon's art studio and where he painted many of his early pictures.

When he and his first wife Cynthia returned to live in Mendips, this was turned into their bedroom.

THE LOUNGE Where Lennon wrote poetry and song lyrics as a teenager and Aunt Mimi used to sit and reply to fan mail sent to him at Mendips.

LENNON'S BEDROOM Where Lennon wrote The Beatles's early hit Please Please Me sitting on his bed with his guitar.

Re: Yoko Ono opens John Lennon\'s childhood home to the public
 

Thanks for the links, guys. One of these days, I've got to get to Liverpool.