John Lennon, Paul McCartney Childhood Homes To Be Preserved

By MEERA SELVA 02/29/12 01:30 PM ET Associated Press

React

share this story

Get Culture Alerts

Submit this story

LONDON -- The childhood homes of former Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney, where the pair wrote some of their early songs, will be preserved, the government said Wednesday.

Lennon's house in south Liverpool and McCartney's nearby row home will be granted a grade 2 listing, which means they cannot be altered without the permission of local officials, said Britain's Heritage Minister John Penrose.

The decision means the homes of one of Britain's greatest songwriting teams will be protected for generations to come. Their work has long been associated with the northern port city Liverpool, particularly because of songs like "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" that celebrated their childhood haunts.

Lennon lived at a comfortable 1930s duplex house called "Mendips" in 251 Menlove Ave. from 1945 to 1963 with his aunt and uncle after his parents separated when he was five.

McCartney lived in nearby Forthlin Road for nine years from 1955. The two musicians held early practice sessions for their first band The Quarrymen while living at these houses, and wrote The Beatles first number one hit, the raucous "Please Please Me," at Lennon's home.

Preservation group The National Trust has already restored the houses to look as they would have done when Lennon and McCartney were growing up.

In a statement Wednesday, Lennon's widow Yoko Ono said: "Mendips always meant a great deal to John and it was where his childhood dreams came true for himself and for the world."

The preservation order was granted by English Heritage, a government-sponsored body that decides which buildings to preserve. It decided not to preserve the childhood homes of Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison and drummer Ringo Starr.

Emily Gee at English Heritage said Lennon's and McCartney's homes had been preserved because "they were scenes of huge amounts of rehearsal, of composition of songs, really intense creative hubs."

See images of Lennon's and McCartney's childhood homes:

Launch Slideshow

HIDE THUMBNAILS

BACK TO ARTICLE

VOTE ON THIS SLIDE

Listen to "Please Please Me," originally written at Lennon's home:

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post stated that the above audio was recorded at Lennon's home. This version was in fact not recorded at his home, but is a studio recording.

FOLLOW HUFFPOST CULTURE

Facebook:

17k

Twitter:

Get Alerts

CONTRIBUTE

TO THIS STORY

Comments
179
Pending Comments
0
View FAQ

Comments are closed for this entry

View All

Favorites

Recency |

Popularity

Page: 1 2 3 4 Next › Last » (4 total)

Americanwoman55

live, laugh, dance, run with scissors

996 Fans

10:45 AM on 03/02/2012

It is a start. Recognizing music in history of a Nation. Wonderful. Maybe america will follow suit and recogniae it's musicians and writers has historically valuable too.

England is wonderful. Love this country.

Permalink | Share it

butchcliff

The future is unwritten

273 Fans

06:19 AM on 03/02/2012

Why aren't George's & Ringo's homes included? After all they were the 'Fab Four'

Nicole Sutherland

12 Fans

10:12 AM on 03/01/2012

I can't believe they won't preserve George Harrison's home. It has been countlessly documented that one of the initial reasons they allowed George in the band was because his mother tolerated the loud practices. It has been my understanding that they held more practices there than at the other homes. Not that George wasn't talented, and there weren't other reasons to include him, but, at the time, his age difference was clearly more noticeable.

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

skybar

history repeats the old conceits

583 Fans

09:36 AM on 03/01/2012

George and Ringo are like, "Hey, what about OUR houses?"

HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR

carlgt1

704 Fans

08:28 AM on 03/01/2012

I visited these houses a few years ago - Englsh Heritage did a great job restoring the houses and not making them a tourist trap.

Doug MacKenzie

I refuse to live in FEAR

1357 Fans

08:17 AM on 03/01/2012

As one who remembers waiting for each new Beatle release with 'bated breath, I'm happy to see this. They didn't just change music; they changed the way people think, in many regards.

Lindsgrace33

135 Fans

08:07 AM on 03/01/2012

I think this is great. The Beatles are truly the best band of all time (at least to me.) I have been in love with them, especially John Lennon since I was 11. They are musical geniuses who will be remembered for all time. It makes since to me to preserve their home like other historical figures. I don't think there is one GOOD band that doesn't see The Beatles as an influence. I still remember where I was when I first heard a Beatles song...Eleanor Rigby changed my life.

Stephen Thorpe

Every breath you take - I'll take one too!

818 Fans

07:20 AM on 03/01/2012

I'd bet it's annoying for the people who live there now. To have these fans wandering around, ringing the doorbell. Taking pictures, asking the children questions.

08:30 AM on 03/01/2012

It's not like that at all, it's well controlled with small groups in a minibus. I guess "outside" tourists could go and bother the neighbors but this was true for the past 50 years anyway!

Dutch Blauvelt

0 Fans

08:38 AM on 03/01/2012

the homes have been in the care of the National trust for years. there is a caretaker who lives part-time at mendips but has another home. His wife recently took over caring for Forthlin Road, after the mildly controversial exit of the former caretaker. The tours of both homes are fantastic, to sit in John's childhood room, or in Paul's living room where many songs were formed is thrilling. Forthlin road is certainly the only home of its kind to be preserved and cared for by the national trust. Visit Liverpool, its a great city which both shows its historic past and has an exciting arts and music scene today.

08:50 AM on 03/01/2012

Still, the neighborhood is, as I've seen, well traveled by tourists.

This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program

ennui the third

401 Fans

06:51 AM on 03/01/2012

Three musical geniuses, and a rock steady drummer who could have fronted his own group. They also brought and bring joy to countless people. Not bad.

onthetown

2 Fans

04:44 AM on 03/01/2012

Visited both homes in September... it was a thrilling experience. At Paul's house, he left a lovely tape welcoming visitors, and talking about what his home meant to him when he was growing up. I was surprised at how nice their neighborhoods actually are (especially John's) - though post-WW2, when they were growing up, they may have been very different.

johnlewisf - Yes, they mistreated some people along the way. Not to excuse it, but they were very young at that time and I, like most people, had done stupid things vis a vis others when I was barely out of adolescence.

kovnor

7 Fans

04:18 AM on 03/01/2012

In his own way Harrison was as intrinsic to the group as what's-their-names. He wasn't the
greatest guitar player, but he was truly singular. Like Beck or Hendrix, he heard it...differently.
As a songwriter..., well, if you haven't heard "Concert for George", get it, hear it. And they
couldn't even do every song. That's what surprised me, that the songbook was that heavy.
And Ringo? There were no more innovative songwriters,song-to-song, or in thecompositions
themselves than Lennon-mcCartney. And Harrison was a whole new bag of stuff. Somehow,
Mr. Starkey managed to lay down a beat that enhanced each song. Whether his idea or the
o\her guys, he never got left behind. Maybe not Moon or Bonham or Baker, but he was sheer
professional and wildly diverse and adaptive. Save the Harrison & Starkey Homes. In truth,
their families could buy them outright & all petition for Landmark status.
Avranm

liveinhope23

My unauthorized autobiography

662 Fans

10:33 AM on 03/01/2012

The people who criticize Ringo's drumming have license to do so from a technical point of view - but great technique is not the measure of a musician or any other kind of artist - imagination is. Paul and Ringo together (or sometimes even Paul and Paul together:-) are the most under-rated rhythm section in history. ALWAYS in the pocket. Always.
What can be said about Ringo is that he played the perfect thing for each and every song. No more, no less. There's not much more you can achieve as a musician of any kind. Whether or not he could do a roll or a solo is entirely inconsequential. None of the Beatles were great soloists when compared to their contemporaries. They were something entirely different. Songwriters, Imagineers and completely Magical for that all too brief period of the Beatles. You cannot change the world the way they did with technical proficiency. Only with imagination and love. And they had tons lot of both. It was a great time to be alive and has certainly influenced the rest of my life. For this one brief period the world gave complete artistic license to a musical act. We told them - "do anything you want, we'll support it"
and to their eternal credit, they ran with it (did they ever!) - taking us far beyond all of our reasonable expectations - and leaving us breathless each and every time.
A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

eyelashviper

In wilderness is the preservation of the world

4273 Fans

07:44 PM on 03/01/2012

The recent documentary about George Harrison was a fine tribute to the talent of all four musicians, but certainly spotlighted Georges fine talent...to not include both he and Ringo as equal members of the Beatles is foolish.