On this day The Beatles bought a five-storey property at 3 Savile Row, London, for a price of £500,000.
The property had once been the home of Lord Nelson’s Lady Hamilton, and had also later belonged to entertainment impresario Jack Hilton. It became The Beatles’ base for Apple when they officially moved in on 15 July 1968.
The Beatles spent much of the next 18 months at 3 Savile Row; indeed, it was the location of their celebrated rooftop performance on 30 January 1969. They also installed a recording studio in the basement.
Each of the group’s members had an office in the Georgian townhouse, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono ran their early peace campaigns from the building, under the umbrella of Bag Productions. Also working at 3 Savile Row at various times were Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans, Derek Taylor, Peter Brown and Allen Klein.
It also became a place for Beatles fans to congregate outside – the legendary Apple Scruffs, as immortalised by George Harrison in song. Apple eventually sold the building in October 1976.