View from Undercliff upper veranda looking onto the Great Sound
Continuing with the origin story of John Lennon’s ‘Grow Old With Me,’ Lennon moved into the cottage called Undercliff in the Fairyland neighborhood of Pembroke, Bermuda on June 18, 1980.[1]
While the property was owned by Sir John Cox, Rolf Oskar Luthi and Molly Luthi had lived at Undercliff since the late 1960s. Rolf was living in the home in 1970 when the local newspaper listed that he had applied for naturalization.[2] Originally from Belgium, Rolf was the head of A.S. Cooper & Sons, Bermuda’s largest department store.[3] In 1980, the couple had three children, Christian, Celia, and Natalie, living with them.[4]
“There were four acres of land and gorgeous views right on to the harbor where you could watch the ships,” said Molly Luthi. “Our bedroom looked out over the Great Sound and the main wing of the house was Victorian, with tall ceilings.”[4]
Christian Rolf, who was 13 when Lennon visited, said of Undercliff, “It is a very old house, one of the older houses in the neighborhood and with a wonderful piece of land, an old dock, and a bait pool.”[4]
The Luthis needed to move out of the home on short notice to accommodate Lennon’s visit. As the Queen’s Birthday Holiday was Monday, June 16th, the Luthis couldn’t find cleaners and had to do much of the necessary preparation themselves.[5]
Sean and John Lennon at Queen’s Birthday Parade in Bermuda, June 1980
“My mother was frantically trying to get the house ready to rent out,” said Christian. “When you live in a house, you put up with a lot more – walls that weren’t painted, whatever. But when someone is coming in, you suddenly feel you have to do all this stuff. So my mother and father were running around getting it ready. We were scrambling.”[6]
Rolf Luthi recalled first meeting Lennon. “I asked to meet him before he came to the house to tell him it was not a fancy house,” Rolf said. “I met him at Knapton Hill (where Lennon first stayed). He sat down with me, and I told him about the house and he said that it was too public at Knapton Hill.”[5]
While the Ruthis had to move out quickly, it was a financial windfall. The six week rental cost Lennon $24,000. In today’s equivalent, that would be approximately $100,000.
“I knew that we’d end up paying through the nose for it, but it’ll be worth it,” Lennon said at the time.[7]
“In those days in Bermuda, if someone wanted to rent your house for a lot of money it was a big deal,” Christian said. “In years to come, that became the norm, but back then it was a big deal.”[8]
Lennon arrived at Undercliff at 8 a.m. on the 18th.6 His arrival at the home was, of course, notable for the whole family, who was still getting the house ready.
Christian said, “He walked down the pathway wearing a white suit. It was like Abbey Road, and he was wearing round glasses.”[6]
Molly was less impressed, saying he “came right down the front path when I was trying to get the children off to school. He had brought Sean and his entourage.”[8]
“He waltzed in, saw the grand piano, and started playing it,” Rolf said. “We had a young cleaner doing the windows, and he saw the man at the piano and said ‘I think that’s John Lennon,’ but I did not tell him it was because it had to be secret.”[8]
[1] Madinger, Chip; Raile, Scott. Lennonology: Strange Days Indeed, A Scrapbook of Madness. p.516. Open Your Books. 2015.
[2] The Royal Gazette. March 26, 1980. p.4.
[3] Seaman, Fred. The Last Days of John Lennon: A personal memoir. Birch Lane Press. 1991. p.150.
[4] Neil, Scott. Lennon Bermuda. p.50. Freisenbruch Brannon Media. Kindle Edition.
[5] The night I met John Lennon. The Royal Gazette, December 7, 2005.
[6] Neil, Scott. Lennon Bermuda. p. 51. Freisenbruch Brannon Media. Kindle Edition.
[7] Womack, Kenneth. John Lennon 1980 – The Last Days in the Life. Omnibus Press. 2020. p.122.
[8] Neil, Scott. Lennon Bermuda. p. 52. Freisenbruch Brannon Media. Kindle Edition.