THE luxurious first home of Helensburgh’s most famous son, John Logie Baird, has been put up for sale - giving you the chance to own a little bit of communications history.
Known as The Lodge, the five-bedroom Victorian villa in West Argyle Street was put on the market in March, shortly before lockdown kicked in and halted all housing transactions.
And now that those restrictions have been lifted, you could hardly wish for a more eye-catching building to wave the flag for the hoped-for revival of Helensburgh’s property market.
The detached house, with grounds that extend to more than 2,600 square feet, is on the market for offers over £625,000 through local estate agents Clyde Property.
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Built around 1860, and was bought in 1881 by the Reverend John Baird, the father of John Logie Baird, the inventor of television, who was born in the house on August 13, 1888.
According to the Helensburgh Heritage Trust website, Baird conducted many of his early experiments in communication at the house, including rigging a telephone line to the home of his school friend Jack Buchanan — later to become a famous entertainer and a financial backer of Baird — along the road at Garthland.
The Trust’s website also says John Baird senior continued to live at The Lodge in his retirement, and died there in September 1932.
But the Baird family’s link with the building was far from severed: in 1948, the year after the inventor died, his widow and children Malcolm and Diana were invited by his sister, Annie, to move back into the property - and though they left in around 1960, it remained Annie’s home until her death in 1971.
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Reports in 2011 suggested that The Lodge was on a long list of properties being considered for possible acquisition by the National Trust for Scotland, though the NTS played down the speculation, and nothing further was heard of the idea.
The current owners of the category B listed home, which is being advertised by Clyde Property, have lived in the building for 18 years and and in that time they are said to have “improved, modernised and redecorated throughout”.
The online advertisement states: “John Logie Baird conducted many of his early experiments in the house, and in fact his boyhood bedroom, which is currently used as a home office/study, served as a telephone exchange linking The Lodge with his school friends’ houses.
“Whilst the house itself is undoubtedly one of the finest period homes to come to the market in Helensburgh of late, it also affords equally impressive garden grounds that feature large expanses of lawn to the side and rear, colourful and well stocked flower beds, along with a sheltered and enclosed patio.
“From the breakfast room, riven paved steps lead down to the gardens and the gardens enjoy afternoon and evening sunshine.
“To the front of the house there are two plaques confirming the home to be the birthplace of John Logie Baird and also that he carried out many of his early experiments in the property.”
The stunning property, which also boasts three bathrooms, a drawing room and a games room, can be viewed in full at clydeproperty.co.uk.
The Scottish Government gave the country’s housing market the green light to resume from this week with estate agents returning to branches on Monday and in-person viewings available once again, in line with social distancing guidelines.
A statement on the Clyde Property Helensburgh Facebook page said: “We are also excited to report a huge surge in enquiries across all of our branches over the last few weeks, with record levels of viewing requests and property enquiries being received.
“This confirms that the Scottish property market will bounce back strongly and quickly, as it has done south of the border.
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“We have more than 230 new properties coming to the market for sale, and over 160 new letting properties, all going live on website, our mailing list and the property portals over the next few weeks.
“We appreciate the impact that Covid-19 has had on those eager to move this year and as Scotland’s leading independent agent, we want you to know that we are here for you every step of the way as you look to restart your moving journey.”
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