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The South Devon home of crime writer Dame Agatha Christie is to be refurbished at a cost of 拢5.4 million and opened to the public.

The National Trust has been gifted the gardens, house, and contents of Greenway by Dame Agatha's family.

The gardens are already open to the public, and some 126,000 people have visited them since 2000.

In February 2007, the trust launched a 拢5.4 million appeal to raise money to restore the Grade 2* listed house so it, too, can be opened.

And, thanks to the granting of a Heritage Lottery Fund on 2 April, the ground floor rooms and principle first floor rooms at the house will be opened to the public in time for the Spring of 2009.

Queen of Crime - Agatha Christie

They include the library, where there are collections of Dame Agatha's books, and dolls from the family collection.

There is also a writing desk which was used by the author's daughter Rosalind Hicks, and may also have been used by Agatha Christie.

People will be able to see the drawing room, where Dame Agatha would read her manuscripts to her family and friends and they would have to guess 'whodunit.'

The books would then be published in time for Christmas.

The armchair used by the writer - to the right of the fireplace - is still there.

The second floor will be used as a National Trust holiday apartment, which will help towards the sustainable running of the property.

Another gem (of an entirely different kind) which will be open to the public is a Victorian outdoor loo which was hidden beneath a huge pile of leaves and uncovered during archaeological work in 2006.

The trust believes that the house will be one of the charity's jewels nationally.

Agatha's collection of her books in the library

Property manager at Greenway, Robyn Brown, said: "The shared vision of the trust and the family is to show the rooms set in the 1950s, when Dame Agatha enjoyed the property in its heyday.

"And also to show the private family collections, the quirky collections, including books and memorabilia about Agatha.

"There will be afternoon tea in the kitchen and dinner in the dining room. Greenway will once again come to life. It's not going to be preserved in aspic - we want people to enjoy Greenway."

The Torquay-born novelist bought Greenway in 1938 and used it as a holiday home. Dame Agatha once said of the house: "I thought last night Greenway was the loveliest place in the world - it quite takes my breath away."

In recent times her daughter and son-in-law Rosalind and Anthony Hicks lived there. They passed away in 2004 and 2005, and the house was handed to the trust.

In addition to the house, Dame Agatha's son Mathew Prichard has also gifted the contents of Greenway, making it a unique tourist attraction.

The building is Dame Agatha's only surviving home and contains some of her treasured possessions.

The Queen of Crime - who died in 1976 - read manuscripts to her family at Greenway and found inspiration in the area for some of her books, including Dead Man's Folly and Five Little Pigs.

The drawing room has little changed over the years

However, a lot of work has to be carried out at Greenway, which overlooks the River Dart at Galmpton.

Work is needed to make the building accessible, and trust conservators will remove and catalogue the contents before they are returned to the rooms.

Structural repairs are also needed to the house - there are large cracks in the walls, especially the south wall.

Robyn said: "The house and contents need tender loving care after decades of benign neglect."

Much of the 拢5.4 million has already been secured.

The trust had 拢1.3 million in the kitty from the time that it acquired the property, and a grant from Enterprise Neptune will help towards work to the exterior.

On 2 April, it was announced that a bid for an 拢800,000 Heritage Lottery grant had been successful, and the trust has also received some bequests.

The rest of the money will be raised through donations from the public.

Robyn Brown at Greenway

Robyn said: "拢5.4 million is a quarter of the National Trust's annual expenditure, so this is a huge project.

"It will be one of the best jewels for the nation, and certainly for Devon.

"We have this unique location, the building will be restored to its 1950s heyday, and the sheer populist appeal of Agatha Christie - it has to be a unique and exciting prospect."

Part of the lottery grant will go towards outreach and community work, so that people who can't get to Greenway can learn about Dame Agatha's works. The project will also go into schools.

The gardens will remain open to the public during the work to the house, although some parts will be out of bounds.

Once the house is open, it will be on a pre-booking basis so that traffic in the Galmpton area can be controlled. Almost half of visitors arrive by 'green' methods - including via boats on the River Dart.

The trust hopes to provide a 1950s charabanc to transport people from the river and from Galmpton village.