Bermuda National Trust is calling for a derelict but “extraordinary” old building at Morgan's Point to be saved before a $2 billion tourism resort is built on the peninsula.Jennifer Gray, the charity's executive director, described Sound View as the “most important of the early buildings on the former base” and an important early single-storey hall-chamber house, built in the 1700s.She said the Trust was convinced it could be salvaged, despite being in a dilapidated state after years of neglect.Morgan's Point Ltd director Craig Christensen, meanwhile, said Sound View, on Enterprise Road, was on a small section of the site which would be sold by the developers as “single family plots”.“There exists the possibility, with the right person, they may want to save some of that building,” he said. “It would be a very special person, because it's quite severely damaged.”Ms Gray told The Royal Gazette that Sound View, which is also known as Quarters B, was a “beautiful house built in the old Bermuda tradition” but was now “derelict and in a very poor state of repair, having been abandoned when the US Navy left the property in 1995”.She said: “Sound View is the most important of the early buildings on the former base, in a group of structures which are architecturally or historically significant.“Sadly, all of the buildings on Morgan's Point have been sorely neglected and we accept that many are most likely beyond repair.”She added: “Saying this, we consider Sound View to be extraordinary and, regardless of its condition, feel that it should be saved.“We fully appreciate that restoration would be difficult and expensive but we believe it would be worthwhile.”Ms Gray said the interior of the building had some half-timbering or exposed timber framework that, along with other evidence, strongly indicated early sections of the house could have 17th century origins.“There are even indications the original house had at one time a thatched roof,” she said.“When Morgan's Point was operated by the US Navy, Sound View was used as the residence of the captain of the base and, at that time, was called Quarters B, and so has a long Bermuda history as well as strong Bermuda/US Second World War links.”Ms Gray said the Trust's historic buildings committee met the developers at Sound View in 2010 and shared a history of the property.“We are of the understanding that saving Sound View may still be a viable option in combination with the future development of the site,” she added.“The Bermuda National Trust is confident that this distinctive historic building could be restored into an extraordinary dwelling, which would only serve to enhance the hotel development.”Mr Christensen said he and his fellow developers had no plans to restore Sound View.“It would be a future purchaser of that property,” he said. “That's going to be for the individual that buys that land. There exists the possibility of the right person [buying the plot], that may want to save it.”He said the roof and plaster of Quarters B was damaged by Indian laurel, while the property was “wet and damp all the way through”.He and his partners do plan to save Tucker Crane Cottage, another historic building at Morgan's Point, to the Trust's delight.Ms Gray said: “We applaud the intentions of the new owners to renovate the old Tucker Crane House as a club house, a brilliant idea that will make for a unique membership experience.”Mr Christensen said the idea was to use the building to display the history of Morgan's Point, which is on the Southampton/Sandys border, including its US military past.“We really want to preserve all of the history. We want to get into the property as quickly as possible to try to start the preservation. It's in fairly decent shape — by far the best shape of the buildings out there.”There are five other historic buildings at Morgan's Point — four officers' quarters and a building called Glebe Cottage or Quarters Q, all on Lexington Road.Mr Christensen said those structures, which along with Sound View are still described as “buildings of special architectural or historic interest” on the Department of Planning website, could not be saved and would be demolished.“Quarters Q has started to collapse already. It's very dangerous. They'll have to be bulldozed.“We have got permission to build the resort there. Those buildings are in very, very bad shape. There is nothing there to save.”Useful websites: www.bnt.bm and www.planning.gov.bm.