Calls to rebrand Dundee’s “murder house” as a cultural centre have been made by a descendant of the house’s first owner.
Merchant banker and ship owner David Martin had 2 Roseangle built in 1819 and lived there until his death in 1863.
His descendent William Martin, who now lives in Finland, has been researching the property which became infamous for the brutal murders of 78-year-old Dr Alexander Wood and his wife Dorothy in the 1980s.
Mr Martin said David Martin was a leading figure in Dundee’s rise as an international trading port and commercial centre, and as such his former home “forms an invaluable part of Dundee’s rich cultural heritage.”
He told The Courier: “My research into this building demonstrates its value to the economic and cultural history of the city of Dundee from 1820s onwards.
“It is my firm conviction that 2 Roseangle (Magdalene Yards Rd) should be turned into a site of cultural heritage, a source of pride for the city of Dundee.”
Mr Martin said he is currently researching to produce a book, which will remove the tarnished reputation of the building that is infamous for the brutal double murder.
Dundee city archivists record that David Martin (1777-1863) came to Dundee in 1791 and became an apprentice to Mr Jobson before he started David Martin & Co.
He bought a house, stable and ground at Roseangle in 1813 before having it demolished so the architect David Neave could build a new house for him in 1819.
In 1782 George Batchelor, a gardener, is recorded as living at Roseangle when David Martin was five-years-old.
Daniel Morgan purchased ground from John Rollo, a surgeon in Dundee in 1787 and later that year sold it to Thomas Watt, merchant in Dundee.
Roseangle is also featured in John Heavieside Clark’s 1824 painting The Town of Dundee 1824, when it was on Dundee’s riverfront.
The current owner of 2 Roseangle, Nael Hanna had put the house on the market, but is currently considering alternatives for the property.