Paul McCartney: room in The Beatles legend’s childhood home was off limits for years following mother’s death

Paul McCartney’s childhood home was recently featured in an episode of the BBC Two show Hidden Treasures of the National Trust and has been the subject of interest for many years.

The post-war council house at 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, Liverpool, dubbed "the birthplace of the Beatles" was purchased by The National Trust in 1995. Paul McCartney and his fellow Beatles bandmates composed some of their earliest hits here before their rise to fame.

Beatles fans from all across the world can step inside the property that is filled with memories of Paul’s early days. However, one room in the house had previously been closed to the public eye. Paul’s mother Mary died in the house in 1956 aged just 47, therefore Paul and his brother Michael decided to keep her room off limits out of respect.

“The fact that our mother died there is why I said to them, for years, that my mum and dad’s room was sacrosanct,” says Paul’s brother Michael. “I refused to let anybody in. It was too personal, too terrifying. That’s where she slept.”

The pair eventually agreed to give visitors access to the room to acknowledge their mother and her memory. “I discussed it with our kid [Paul],” Michael told the Radio Times. “And we agreed that it’s important, because there are lots of photographs of my dad, who lived through Beatlemania, and Mum had never been recognised,” Michael added.

Paul returned to the house during the Carpool Karaoke segment on the Late Late Show back in 2018. The musician was apprehensive about visiting his childhood home, where he lived for 20 years, but admitted he loved showing James Corden around.

"I was always a little apprehensive about going back. I didn’t know if it was going to be nice or whether I would get bad memories or whatever, although I don’t really know what I was worried about," Paul McCartney told GQ. "I was happy to be able to tell him all the stories of my dad, my brother and our time there. It brought back a lot of nice memories actually, so I loved it," the musician continued.