Going, Going, John....Lennon`s House Sells For £480,000

Date Published 30 October 2013

Going, Going, John....Lennon's House Sells For £480,000

US buyer pays almost double top guide price of £250,000

John Lennon's first home was sold to a US buyer for nearly half a million pounds.

The red-bricked terrace house, in Wavertree , where the former Beatle lived with his parents and grandparents, went at auction for a whopping £480,000.

The sale of number nine Newcastle Road was held at the Cavern Club, in Liverpool, and attracted a handful of potential buyers, including a few international bidders.

The three-bedroomed home had a top guide price of £250,000 but went for nearly twice that after a two bidders, one on the floor and one on the phone, became embroiled in a bidding war.

But it was an anonymous US bidder on the phone that took the lot.

Jason Doll-Steinberg lost out after the price soared way above what he wanted to pay.

He travelled all the way from London to try and buy a piece of Beatles history.

He told the ECHO: 'It was just too much for me in the end. Initially, I saw the auction was coming up and decided to bid – it was an emotional thing. I work in travel and culture and enjoy architecture and of coursethe fact that John Lennon lived there as a child caught my attention.
The house needs a bit of TLC, so I thought it was bit of history which I could turn into an enjoyable project, but it wasn't to be.'

Lennon lived at the house from the day he was born on October 9, 1940, to around the age of five.

The house is also where the Beatles legend is said to have penned the song One After 909 later in his life.

The modest home with its bay front comprises two lounges, a kitchen, three bedrooms, a family bathroom and a yard at the back.

It is thought only a handful of people have owned the property since John Lennon lived there during the 1940s.

Other three-bedroom terraces up for sale on the same road are priced between £150,000 and £159,950.

Auctioneer Andrew Brown who sold the house said: 'Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would go for that price, but the news of the sale has gone worldwide. I've done interviews with people from Seattle, New Zealand, just all over the place, in the run- up to the auction.'