Back in the 1960s Jimi Hendrix rented rooms at No 23 Brook Street in central London with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. The Guardian is reporting that these rooms will be transformed back to their 1968 look, as part of a museum to preserve Hendrix's legacy. This is a particularly significant place, as Hendrix has referenced it as being "the only home I ever had."
These days the rooms are offices for the Handel House Museum. The British baroque composer Frideric Handel lived near at No 25 during the 18th century. Apparently, Hendrix was influenced by Handel upon knowing that he too had lived on Brook Street.
The chair of the London committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Wesley Kerr, said: "It will make available to visitors the neighbouring flat where Jimi Hendrix, another extraordinary musical émigré from a more recent era, found inspiration and happiness, transcending musical boundaries in the heyday of rock and roll."
The replication of the offices back to 1960s London, along with Hendrix memorabilia, will require a great amount -- a £1.2m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund is to be announced soon. When Hendrix arrived to London in 1966 he was relatively unknown. News of his talent quickly spread, however. At one given concert you could find other rock legends: Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, John Lennon and Pete Townshend.
The Daily Mail reports initial plans in the works to have a 'new exhibition and interpretation spaces' and a 'dedicated Learning Studio to support visiting groups in interpreting the Handel House Museum, which will also act as a recital room.'
Here is a glimpse of Hendrix's flat, adjacent to the pictured Handel House:
