Monday, 23 January 2012

Jimmy Page: with compliments

Between 1971 and 1980, Jimmy Page lived at Plumpton Place in East Sussex, described by journalist Howard Mylett in 1972 as having 'over 50 acres, two tied cottages, beautiful lakes and a moat.'  He added that 'Page’s taste in art and decoration is not of the Ideal Home, glossy-magazine type; he has retained the original character of the house. The only conversion is a small recording studio upstairs. The stables house goats, chickens, artwork, a Range Rover, one of the legendary Cord American cars and a motorbike. He has expressed a wish to obtain some swans for the lake.’

Page was of course frequently away on tour in the 70s, but spent much of Led Zeppelin’s 1976-77 hiatus there, and was even known to jam in the village pub, the Half Moon. He painstakingly installed a home studio at Plumpton, and carried out the mixing for In Through The Out Door there. He moved out in 1980 after a local photographer named Philip Hale (aged 26) died of vomit inhalation during a party on October 24th 1979. The house was on the market for a while before changing hands again in 1985.

Had the guitarist corresponded with you during his tenure there, chances are it would have involved one of these:


Amazingly, the particulars of the house as viewed by Page can be seen here.
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6 comments:

  1. Rocky Dickerson23 January 2012 at 13:36

    Great! Thanks!

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  2. Anonymous8 May 2014 at 04:27

    I'm going to buy me a Jimmy Page lived here house one day! I can almost afford this one, if it's still for sale that is--only $11,999,999.99 left to save, if it's in U.S. Dollars and not British Pounds!

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  3. Anonymous21 January 2015 at 23:12

    Fascinating! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Quetzalbird21 January 2015 at 23:16

    I had heard about his mansion with the swans so thanks for this report!

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  5. Phill Anstice9 May 2017 at 06:54

    When I lived in Brighton, in the late seventies and early eighties, I met Jimmy Page and Philip Hale at a private musical event in Hassocks where I played piano for a small invited gathering. I chatted to Jimmy and briefly to Philip. I was invited to Jimmy's home at Plumpton shortly afterwards where an engineer was mixing Robert Plant's vocals on the album "In Through The Out Door". It was lovely, atmospheric; a truly beautiful place. There were guitars everywhere, even nine in the tiny WC. It was a charming place and Jimmy was a gentle, compassionate host. I recognised Philip Hale's photo in a local paper a short while later and recognised him immediately. It was so sad to read of his passing.

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  6. Anonymous25 May 2017 at 13:15

    I just heard about this place through a random conversation, I live half a mile away... just been for a walk around the perimeter, from what little you can see it is beautiful, but can see just enough to try imagine what used to go on there. A pint at the half moon wont be the same

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