The Bell Rock Tavern, and the nearby Harbour Tavern, were popular with the fishing community and the men who worked at the local gas works. By the early twentieth century the Bell Rock Tavern was in relatively poor repair. Significant restoration work took place in 1938 when the local architects Gillespie and Scott helped convert the building to a private home, and in the 1980s when the St Andrews Preservation Trust funded work. Today Bell Rock House is the only property on the Shorehead to retain much of its historic appearance.