Identifying Arthur Conan Doyle’s homes

I have noticed a tendency for posters on the Internet to regularly mix up the homes of Arthur Conan Doyle. In my opinion this is because photos are sourced from the Internet where the images are devoid of context.

It is also not helped by the fact that the iconic photos that are used for each dwelling tend to be of very different rooms. For Bush Villas in Southsea (-1890) (where A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four were written) we generally only see the outside.

Arthur Conan Doyle stands outside his Southsea home/medical practice

For 12 Tennison Road in South Norwood (1891-1894) we see the outside, and most of the ground floor rooms.

ACD's South Norwood home in 2008 and 1892

ACD in his South Norwood Study. It was here that he penned the latter half of Adventures and most of Memoirs including Holmes's "death" at the Reichenbach Falls

For Undershaw (1897-1907) we tend to be limited to the outside and Arthur Conan Doyles’ study.

Undershaw

Undershaw Entrance Hall

ACD in his Undershaw study. Here he penned a lot of the Return and probably some of Hound

As we have pictures of the study for both Tennison Road and Undershaw we can at least tell them apart. However, when it comes to Windlesham (1907-1930) we are generally only able to see the picture of ACD reclining in a small chair with a book.

|ACD reclines in Windlesham

Often the best indicator is ACD himself. His age makes it possible to narrow down. He clearly looks older in the above photo than he does in the Undershaw study picture.

For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .

The Norwood Author is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.

Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.