The nickname of John Lennon’s childhood home at 251 Menlove Avenue was Mendips.
The house stood in Woolton, south Liverpool, and belonged to Lennon’s aunt Mimi Smith and her husband, George Smith. Lennon moved there in July 1946, aged five, and lived at the semi-detached property until 1963. Its name, Mendips, refers to the Mendip Hills in Somerset.
The home was important to Lennon’s early life and musical development. Although Lennon’s mother Julia was killed nearby in 1958, the house itself became associated with his adolescence, his relationship with Mimi, and the period when he formed the Quarrymen. “Mendips” is sometimes confused with other Beatles homes, especially Paul McCartney’s childhood house at 20 Forthlin Road.
The National Trust restored Mendips to its 1950s appearance after Yoko Ono bought and donated it for preservation. It is now part of the Beatles’ heritage sites in Liverpool, alongside McCartney’s childhood home. The property also carries an English Heritage blue plaque commemorating Lennon’s residence there.