I majored in history. I went to graduate school for history and have my masters. I love history. And I can honestly tell you I could not care less about preservation of an author's home. It means little. Is the building somehow special based on its architecture? No? Then tear it down if one wants to and build something more modern and aesthetically pleasing. That itself will be torn down in 80 years.
If people didn't keep doing this, we would be living in whatever hovels people living in during the early civilization periods.