“The curse of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has struck again,” the London Times trumpeted yesterday, letting readers know about the sad fate of Undershaw (seen above), the house the creator of Sherlock Holmes built in 1896 in Hindhead, England.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles were both written at Undershaw. Now, however, the sometime hotel has been allowed to “fall into rack and ruin.” From The Times Online:
A fortnight ago, on a chance visit to Undershaw, in Hindhead, Surrey, a leading expert on Doyle was shocked to discover its heraldic windows smashed, rainwater cascading through three storeys and the front door left open. Vagrants had left behind beer cans, cigarette packets and their makeshift sleeping arrangements.Sorry for the generalization, but ... the Brits love their heritage and a few of them are on this case:
Heritage campaigners, including the Victorian Society, are appealing for a benefactor to come forward, as well as trying to have [the estate’s] listing elevated from Grade II to I.Read the whole story here.
Kathryn Ferry, a senior architectural adviser to the Victorian Society, said of the property: “As a monument of one of our greatest literary figures, it is extremely important.”
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