Jimi Hendrix's old London bedroom opens to public exactly how it was in the '60s

The creative space of a legend — The Handel House Trust have restored Hendrix's room on Brook Street in Mayfair to exactly how it was when he mastered his version of 'All Along The Watchtower' there.

There’s something fascinating about the domestic spaces of our heroes. Only recently I was looking through Annie Leibovitz’s book Pilgrimage, a personal photographic journey to the people and places that pique her interest, and found myself sharing her amazement at the fragments of life that history’s greats have left behind – Abraham Lincoln’s gloves (that brave and eloquent man had hands!) and Virginia Woolf’s bedroom (the articulator of the female condition slept!).

When people create or achieve things that seem to us super human, it’s inspiring and moving to see them humanised. Yes, these are people who might have ended slavery in America or wrote some of the best books in the English language, but they were also partners and lovers and friends and hobbyists and once they were even just kids.

So a new permanent installation at 23 Brook Street, London, which is opening up Jimi Hendrix’s ’60s bedroom – perfectly restored – to the public on February 10 2016, strikes a particular chord.

The bedroom is being opened by the Handel House Trust, a charitable organisation who manage a residence two doors down that actually belonged to 18th Century baroque composer George Frideric Handel. Tickets to Hendrix’s place will get you into Handel’s, and vice versa, so you can compare and contrast two of music’s most influential makers.

According to the trust: “While his life was changing and he was dealing with the demands of fame, Brook Street gave Hendrix the opportunity of at least attempting to live a domestic life, with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. Jimi Hendrix referred to the little flat at Brook Street as ‘the first real home of my own’. Found by Kathy in the classified ads of one of the London evening papers, the flat became theirs for rent of £30 a week. Jimi and Kathy chose curtains and carpets in John Lewis, bought LPs at One-Stop Records in South Molton Street and picked up bits and pieces at second hand shops.”

£30 a week!!!!! In Mayfair!!

unspecified-4

Continued: “Their days didn’t start until the afternoon and the curtains stayed closed most of the time, earning Jimi the nickname ‘The Bat’. A naturally friendly and affable character, Jimi would give out his phone number freely, so the phone and, in time, a second phone line, would always be ringing. The ground floor of 23 Brook Street was taken up by a restaurant, Mr Love, where Jimi and Kathy would often start the evening, before heading off to the Speakeasy club for a jam session. Invariably these evenings would end up with everyone back at the flat, which would welcome a constant stream of friends, musicians, acquaintances, journalists and photographers.”

The exhibition will also include original exhibits, including the Epiphone FT79 acoustic guitar which Hendrix apparently mastered his version of Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’ on.

So go down if you can, and geek out on a bunch of inanimate things that were in the presence of a genius – one we lost all too soon.

Handel & Hendrix in London opens at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London, from 10 February 2016.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.


You might like

Two musicians performing on stage - one playing violin whilst standing on the other's back. Colourful backdrop with red and yellow patterns.
Saint Levant © Christian Hjorth
Music

In 2025, festivals have become defiantly political. Roskilde is one of the most powerful

A sea of people — Music and countercultural movements have a hand-in-hand relationship spanning decades. As authorities increasingly police traditional on-street protests, dancefloors and crowds are again becoming crucial spaces for solidarity, writes Ella Glossop, reporting from Denmark’s largest festival.

Written by: Ella Glossop

Boxing trainer in black tracksuit instructing young boxer wearing headgear in gym ring under bright lights.
Sport

Warm, tender photos of London’s amateur boxing scene

Where The Fire Went — Sana Badri’s new photobook captures the wider support networks and community spirit around the grassroots sport, as well as the significance of its competitions to the athletes who take part.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Tattooed woman with long red hair screaming into microphone on stage, band members with instruments in background, coloured stage lights.
Music

In Birmingham’s punk underground, hardcore is queer

Punk Pride — In recent years, a defiantly political queercore scene has begun to emerge in the West Midlands, providing alternative spaces for the area’s LGBTQ+ youth. Stephanie Phillips speaks to those leading the charge.

Written by: Stephanie Phillips

Shirtless male performer with long dark hair holds baseball bat aloft whilst singing into microphone, drummer visible in background.
Music

Bob Vylan top UK Hip Hop and R&B album chart one week after Glastonbury

The people said ‘Nah’ — Despite heavy criticism from politicians and media for leading chants of “death to the IDF”, as well as being dropped by their agent, the punk duo’s 2024 LP 'Humble As The Sun' has seen its purchases and streams spike.

Written by: Molly Baker

Dark street scene with orange-lit shop front and glowing red windows in building above. People gathered outside illuminated storefront.
© Tom Weatherill
Music

In photos: The people of Glastonbury’s queer heart The NYC Downlow

Elation and family — Once a year, a meatpacking warehouse nightclub springs up in Glastonbury’s South East corner and becomes a site of pilgrimage for the festival’s LGBTQ+ scene. We met the people who make The NYC Downlow so special.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Music

Jack Johnson

Letting It All Out — Jack Johnson’s latest record, Sleep Through The Static, is more powerful and thought provoking than his entire back catalogue put together. At its core, two themes stand out: war and the environment. HUCK pays a visit to Jack’s solar-powered Casa Verde, in Los Angeles, to speak about his new album, climate change, politics, family and the beauty of doing things your own way.

Written by: Tim Donnelly

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...