Admirers of Perth-born author John Buchan have thrown their weight behind plans to restore his neglected birthplace.
For years his childhood home on the Glasgow Road has been an embarrassment to the city, lying vacant, fenced-off and unloved.
A prominent feature in the centre of Perth, the neglected state of the building was frequently commented on by visitors to the city, many who had been drawn to Perth by their regard for the author of The 39 Steps and many other books.
Architects Muir Walker and Pride have submitted detailed plans to Perth and Kinross Council for bringing the house back to life. A new roof, repaired brickwork and replacement windows and doors will give it an external transformation.
The plans after so many years of inaction have pleased members of the John Buchan Society, whose main objective is to promote a “wider understanding and appreciation of the life and works” of the author.
“The John Buchan Society is delighted to read that, at last, something is to be done about the dreadful state that John Buchan’s birthplace has fallen into,” said Kenneth Hillier, chairman of the society and vice-chairman of the John Buchan Heritage Museum trustees.
“When we had our society’s AGM and annual dinner in your lovely city a few years ago, we all walked out to have a look at the building rather depressing.”
He said the society would be keen to offer assistance with any exhibition material which could be linked to the society and the new Buchan Story Heritage Museum in Peebles, which opened this year.
The Peebles museum explores Buchan’s life and writing, including his time spent in South Africa. It is situated in the Borders as his parents grew up in there and Buchan spent many family holidays there.
In 1935 Buchan was appointed Governor General of Canada and he was made Lord Tweedsmuir, a fact marked by a plaque on the Perth house, where he was born in 1875.
Visitors to the John Buchan Story in Peebles can follow the many stages of his life, using his novels and other works as a backdrop to the story of one of Scotland’s most distinguished sons.