Was this John Lennon’s celebrity tree house getaway?
I stumbled upon this intriguing possibility while taking a tree house quiz. The first question asks which public figure was not known to have an adult tree house: John Lennon, Winston Churchill, or Elton John. I didn’t know any of them had tree houses, so being a fan of the celebrity tree house realm, I did a little research. The pickings were slim.
I came across this ad renting out what they say is John Lennon’s tree house for $1495 weekly or, for the deal hunter in all of us, a giveaway price of $5340 per month. (Hey, the opportunity to stay in a celebrity tree house ain’t cheap, honey! Actually, since up to 5 people can stay there, it works out to as little as $50 per person per night.)
I tried to find some substantiation to the claim that this LA abode really was John Lennon’s but I haven’t found anything online, nor have I found any reference to John having a tree house. I’m not saying it isn’t; I’m just saying I can’t find any other sources that say so.
Digging Deeper
When I did a more in-depth search, I came across these 3 sites that refer to John Lennon having a celebrity tree house overlooking “Strawberry Fields Orphanage”.
However, being a bit of a Beatles head, I know that the Liverpool agency was actually called “Strawberry Field”, singular. This leads me to question the accuracy of this claim. The fact that all 3 sites made the same error suggests to me that 2 of them got their information secondhand from whichever site originally published the post.
Also, John was just a child when he lived next to the orphanage. The quiz question specifically refers to adult tree houses, so the reference to the Strawberry Fields Orphanage as the location of John’s tree house can’t be referring to his alleged celebrity tree house of his adult years. Though, he may have had a childhood tree house there.
An Unsolved Celebrity Tree House Mystery
Did John spend any time in LA, where the advertised rental tree house is?
According to Wikipedia, John and Yoko spent 4 months in Los Angeles in 1970 doing primal therapy, but that would have been too short a time to undertake such a major project as a luxury celebrity tree house such as in image above.
The Wiki page indicates that John spent perhaps a couple of months in LA in 1973 after he and Yoko decided to separate. Again, not much time to build an upscale tree house. His time in the United States was overwhelmingly spent in his New York home, so why would he have built a prestigious tree house residence in LA?
So we have a mystery on our hands. If you know anything about this enigma, please let us know. I love a good caper!
By the way, speaking of John Lennon and tree houses, you’ll find him portrayed in the Simpsons’ 19th annual Treehouse of Horrors, episode 4, season 20 at 12:04. Coincidence? You decide.
image credit: Airbnb