Dunedin writer Gay Buckingham said the council and university owed Brasch a ‘‘huge debt'' because he founded the literary journal Landfall and was a patron of The Robert Burns Fellowship - New Zealand's premier literary residency.
‘‘We owe him heaps,'' Ms Buckingham said.
Ms Buckingham asked Mayor Dave Cull and vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne to ask the vendors to extend the deadline sale from noon tomorrow to allow time to raise the money to buy the central Dunedin home.
Mr Cull yesterday said he would talk to council staff about the proposal, and Prof Hayne was yet to respond, Ms Buckingham said.
A university spokeswoman said the organisation had not had a chance to consider the proposal.
Ms Buckingham said Brasch's home at 36A Heriot Row was a meeting place to nurture New Zealand writers.
‘‘It was a refuge for writers, a place where his famous literary gatherings took place, and a springboard for contemporary New Zealand culture.''
She feared if the house was sold, its ‘‘unique historical and literary associations will disappear forever''.
As Dunedin was a Unesco City of Literature, it was imperative the ‘‘cultural history'' was safeguarded.
The house could be administered by a trust, such as the Janet Frame Eden Street Trust in Oamaru, Ngaio Marsh House & Heritage Trust in Christchurch, and Frank Sargeson House in Takapuna, she said.
The Michael King Writers' Centre in Takapuna was a charitable trust and had supported writers' residencies and offered low-cost accommodation for visiting writers.
‘‘The house at 36A Heriot Row would be ideal for these activities,'' Ms Buckingham said.
Brasch's literary executor, Alan Roddick, of Dunedin, said ‘‘sentimental reasons'' spurred his visit to a recent open home at Heriot Row.
The house had changed little since his last visit more than 40 years ago.
Brasch lived in the house from 1954 until his death in 1973.
The house - built in 1901 - deserved to be preserved.
‘‘[Brasch] initiated things such as the Burns Fellowship, which is a major reason why we are now a Unesco City of Literature. He also donated dozens of New Zealand art works to the Hocken Library and fostered the development of many of this country's best writers through the journal Landfall.''
Writer Bill Manhire tweeted yesterday: ‘‘Am hearing of urgent moves to get DCC & Otago Uni to buy Charles Brasch's home, as part of Unesco City of Literature.''
He urged people to send letters of support to Mr Cull and Cr Jinty MacTavish.
Neither Mr Cull nor Cr MacTavish responded to messages yesterday.
Edinburgh Realty agent Lane Sievwright said the deceased estate had been advertised for more than three weeks and 25 groups had seen the home.
The council or university had not approached him about a sale extension.
The house owners had the final say if the sale could be stalled.
But a delay could create legal implications for potential buyers,‘‘It's a bit of a minefield,'' Mr Sievwright said.
The three-bedroom house had a rateable value of $380,000.
