Fight to save Undershaw (cont.)

The Independent recently ran an article updating the situation regarding the attempted preservation of Undershaw, where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created his most famous work, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Barnes is quoted in the article several times. Here's an excerpt:

"Barnes, whose own Booker-shortlisted novel Arthur & George features the home extensively, has criticised Ms Jowell for the "regrettable" failing.

"He told The Independent On Sunday: "Given that you can't channel-surf without coming across a Conan Doyle adaptation of some sort, I think the Secretary of State is profoundly misguided. It's a fine and interesting property and a rare example of a house where a writer was the co-architect of their house. The only other I can think of is Thomas Hardy's."

[...]

Barnes said: "I think this is regrettable. It's a very interesting house and Conan Doyle had a very large hand in designing it himself - even down to the way the doors opened. He had a push-pull system on all of them - he thought opening doors took too long.

"I think if we are going to list any house with literary connections, it is of more interest and a greater part of our heritage than a house that belonged to Tennyson's grandmother."

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