THE derelict former home of world-renowned painter Joseph Wright should be gifted to the city before it falls into further disrepair, heritage experts have urged.
But the owner of 28 Queen Street, in the city centre, says he has his own plans to develop the site.
The building, built in about 1670, has been home to squatters, has boarded-up windows on the ground floor and a yard in chaos.
But Derby Civic Society says it deserves to be listed and brought back to its former grandeur, having been home not only to Wright but a host of the city's historic figures.
Chairman Alan Grimadell said the owner, Joseph DeWinter, who bought it in 2001, should gift the building to the city of Derby, leaving it in the hands of either the council or the city's Museums Trust.
Mr Grimadell said: "It is at present a cultural disaster and embarrassment to Derby.
"With the Museums Trust promoting the work of Joseph Wright to the highest level, the house that he lived and died in is falling into total disrepair.
"I believe it should be a satellite office for the Derby Tourism Office to promote the work of Wright of Derby.
"In my opinion, the house should be gifted to the residents of the city of Derby.
"The Derby Civic Society has presented the house with a Blue Plaque to both Whitehurst and Wright who at different times owned the house.
"I believe it is time for the city council and the owner to get together and talk."
Mr Grimadell said the society itself does not have the cash to invest in the building but that putting it in the hands of a group like the trust would open the door for grants.
He said: "Once gifted, organisations like the trust, council, civic society, tourist information, [tourism campaigner] Richard Felix and other interested parties could get their heads together and decide what to do next.
"Grants are out there – for example, from the Heritage Lottery. If it were to be gifted now I could see it refurbished in two years."
A spokesman for London-based Mr DeWinter said the owner "has got intentions to develop the site and is actively exploring one or two options during the course of this year".
He added: "For the past several years the market has not been conducive to development but, with things improving, there's definitely an appetite to get something moving."
Squatters have lived in the property in the past but it is not known whether there any there now.
When the Derby Telegraph knocked on the door of the building, there was no answer and local businesses said they believed there was nobody there permanently.
In 1688, the building was inherited by the country's first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, who occasionally stayed there.
Famed clockmaker, scientist and prominent Lunar Society member John Whitehurst acquired the building in 1764 and lived there permanently.
In 1793, Joseph Wright, the city's most famous painter, moved in. He died there in 1797, having spent his final months there with his two daughters.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, knew Wright and Whitehurst and visited the property three times.
It was then the headquarters of Smith and Sons clockmakers from 1865 until 1999.
Richard Felix, who runs the city's ghost walks and has been campaigning to improve Derby as a tourist destination, previously called for the building to be turned into a museum about time. He said he still wanted this and agreed that the current state of the building was "disgusting".
Local historian Maxwell Craven said the large panelled room in the building was of particular historic interest as it was there that people like Franklin, physician Erasmus Darwin and potter Josiah Wedgwood were entertained.
Nobody at the city council was available to comment. chris.mallett@derbytelegraph.co.uk
