My Rotten home
Eye-catching flat where Sex Pistols legend spent the peak years of punk
WITH its pristine interior and wellordered roof terrace, you’d be hard pressed to guess that this was once the home of one of punk rock’s wildest stars – Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the Sex Pistols.
Rotten, whose real name is John Lydon, lived in the flat at Gunter Grove, in London’s Chelsea, from 1978 to 1981 – years when punk was at its peak.
But the only clue you’ll now find to the famous former resident sits on the mantelpiece in the carefully styled sitting room: a blue plaque inscribed with Rotten’s name and the dates he lived in the property.
The current owner – a 42-year-old screenwriter who goes by the name of Kannan – is a self-confessed admirer of Rotten and his former group. ‘I have always been a fan of the Sex Pistols and what they represented,’ he says.
Chelsea wasn’t just a home to Rotten but holds an iconic status for the Sex Pistols and punk as a whole.
‘Johnny and bassist Sid Vicious used to visit Vivienne Westwood’s shop Sex, located just around the corner on King’s Road, during the early years of the Sex Pistols,’ Kannan says. ‘In fact, this is where they all met.’
It was Vivienne Westwood’s husband, the musical svengali Malcolm McLaren, who became manager of the Sex Pistols, whose hits included Pretty Vacant, God Save The Queen and Anarchy In The UK.
‘Vivienne designed much of the fashion associated with their highly visualised look, which then became the iconic image of punk,’ Kannan says. ‘This style was later to inspire the likes of Blondie and Billy Idol.’
This particular area of Chelsea – often referred to as World’s End – has long been a magnet for musicians. In the early 1960s, The Rolling Stones had a flat in nearby Edith Grove – recently recreated in the Stones art show Exhibitionism at the Saatchi Gallery at the other end of the King’s Road – and David Bowie once lived in the area.
‘The area still attracts celebrities to this day too,’ Kannan says, men- tioning that recently Kanyee West and Kim Kardashiann visited the same Vivienne Westwood shop that the Sex Pistols used to hang out in, which has since changed its name to World’s End.
One of the special features of Kannan’s three-bedroom flat – for sale with Foxtons for £1.995million – is its 400sq ft roof terrace. It is the only roof terrace of its size in the area, with none of the neighbouring properties being granted permission for one.
‘I have had some superb parties on the terrace, which I call the Sky Garden, with more than 50 friends at a time enjoying the views, having a cocktail or two, and relaxing to music,’ says Kannan. ‘The beauty is that the terrace is completely private so there are no noise issues, which keeps the neighbours happy.’
He adds: ‘I find the terrace a very peaceful place for writing some of the movie scripts I am currently working on. On a fine day there’s no better place to reminisce and collect one’s thoughts with a nice glass of wine.’
Unusual for a property in inner London, the flat has three sizeable double bedrooms and a split-level reception room. Other features include a large built-in fish tank.
The flat is set over the first, second and third floors of a Victorian house and includes two family bathrooms and a spacious dining room.
Kannan, who has lived in the property for seven years, is selling because he is now off to Los Angeles to further his screenwriting career. In doing so he will be following in the footsteps of Johnny Rotten, who also moved to LA.
And he will keep with him the Sex Pistols spirit that he admires so much.
‘Film director Quentin Tarantino said, “If you’re gonna spit, do it like a Sex Pistol,” ’ Kannan says. ‘That stuff simply lives in your blood and templates who you become in life!’ foxtons.co.uk, 020 3728 2000