Did John Lennon live at The Dakota because it reminded him of Strawberry Field?

When John Lennon was a young boy, he would climb into the gardens of a Gothic-style mansion called Strawberry Field. The mansion was a children’s home run by The Salvation Army and John Lennon spent much of his youth playing among the trees in its grounds. 

The mansion was built by a wealthy shipping merchant called George Warren, with work beginning in 1879. It sat on a sprawling 7 acres of wooded gardens and was built in a Gothic Revival style, with arched windows and triangular dormers. The building was very striking and according to Aunt Mimi, it mesmerised a young John Lennon, who could see it from an upstairs window of ‘Mendips’.

John Lennon had a difficult childhood. He lived in post-war Woolton with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George after his mother Julia surrendered his care to them. During this time, he would come to Strawberry Field to escape. The garden became his sanctuary and made such an impression on him that it would later inspire his music.

In 1967, The Beatles released ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, and just six years later, the mansion was demolished due to dry rot and structural problems. The same year, John Lennon moved into ‘The Dakota’ on Central Park West and 72nd Street, New York.

The Dakota bore a striking resemblance to the Strawberry Field mansion that John Lennon would have seen as a child. Both were Gothic architecture in style and had red brick façades and pointed roofs. What the Dakota lacked in garden space, it made up for with the 843 acres of Central Park.

Property experts claim that emotion accounts for more than 40% of decision making when purchasing home.  So if that is the case, did John choose to live at the Dakota building because it reminded him of the sanctuary he experienced at Strawberry Field?

Learn more about John Lennon's connection to Strawberry Field in our visitor exhibition.