Hindhead (England), July 28 (AP): When Arthur Conan Doyle was told in 1893 that his wife, who was suffering from tuberculosis, had only months to live, he absorbed the diagnosis and then built her a house.

Undershaw, an imposing red-brick edifice in a dry and sheltering valley near Hindhead, south of London, is credited with helping Louise Conan Doyle, known as Touie, to live an extra 13 years.

Today, Undershaw’s windows are boarded, its ceilings discoloured by mildew and the author’s beloved tennis court swamped by a meadow of long, waving grasses. The house’s future is uncertain: a developer who bought the site in 2004 is determined to build on it.

Des Moore had initially planned to divide the house into apartments, but the local council refused permission after complaints from conservationists and Conan Doyle fans. He later withdrew an application to subdivide the site into separate building lots.

The Victorian Society is leading the campaign to save the house. It has urgently asked the conservation group English Heritage to move the house higher up on the list of important historical buildings, making it harder to change it. But that could take several months.

Moore’s agent John Westwood said the developer won’t cave in to pressure from Conan Doyle fans. Conan Doyle bought the 3-acre plot at Hindhead in 1895.