The Manchester Historic Buildings Trust commenced a restoration project in 2009, aiming to see 84 Plymouth Grove returned to its state as the Gaskells left it.

[7] 84 Plymouth Grove was designed in the Regency style,[8][9] probably by architect Richard Lane, c. 1838, and was speculatively built as part of a wider development catering to the burgeoning middle-classes in the area, then on the outskirts of the city.

The design is striking; the house contains 20 rooms on two floors over a concealed basement with a front porch containing four columns carved with a lotus leaf shape, reminiscent of the Tower of the Winds in Athens.

[14] However, they had lived in Manchester for some time previously, as William Gaskell's job of assistant Minister at Cross Street Unitarian Chapel required the family to move from Knutsford, in neighbouring Cheshire.

[17] Until the birth of their children they required only one servant, Betsy, however, at Plymouth Grove many more domestic staff were employed, including a cook, several maids, a handyman for outdoor work, as well as a washerwoman and a seamstress.

[14] The "Manchester smoke", as Brontë described it, was generated from the hundreds of textile factories and cotton mills situated within the inner city, in particular the Ancoats area.

[15] Gaskell lived at Plymouth Grove with her family until her death 15 years later, in 1865, and all of her later books were written there, including some of her most famous works, such as Cranford and North and South.

The New York Times stated that the conversion to a museum could be achieved at "small expense", as it could sell some of the land belonging to the house for development.

[22] Despite the suggestion, the idea was rejected by the local authority, with The Manchester Guardian quoting them as stating, "The house belonged to one of the ugliest periods of architecture and was of no value beyond its association with the Gaskell family.

A blue commemorative plaque on the front of the house reads: "Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810–1865) Novelist and authoress of Mary Barton and Cranford and many other works lived here (1850–1865)".

In 2006, the house was in a very poor state of repair with severe structural problems,[10] and was listed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.

An article in The Independent noted the state of disrepair: "Structural cracks run through the walls, the foundations have to be underpinned, the whole roof replaced and dry rot eradicated, while the entire building must be restored and upgraded.

[25] In June 2012, it was announced that a grant of £1.85 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund had been secured, allowing restoration of the house's interior to take place.

[26] Armitage Construction, a specialist heritage firm founded in 1874, restored the decorative plasterwork and carpentry in the house using traditional lime plaster and woodworking techniques from the period.

[28] Curators of 84 Plymouth Grove hope that literary tourism will benefit the house, and make it a destination similar to Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon or the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth.