Australia’s most incredible ‘holdout homes’
Among the tide of high-rise development sweeping over Australia’s cities there are some truly remarkable homes still standing.
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Among the tide of high-rise development sweeping over Australia’s cities there are some truly remarkable homes still standing.
Surrounded by a world that appears to have left them behind, they now stand as monuments to a simpler time.
Some appear to sink into the high-rise towers that have sprung up around them, while other spacious estates stick out like sore thumbs amid freshly build rows of new homes.
In some, the owners who have lived there for decades say they are refusing to leave until they kick the dust. Others are being used for art projects or they have been protected by law to force developers to think creatively.
But there’s one thing they all have in common, they all have an incredible sense of history in a world that sometimes feels like it’s moving a little too fast.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the nation’s best “holdout” homes.
Brisbane’s “Up” house
Perhaps one of the best-known holdout houses in Australia sits right in the beating heart of Brisbane’s CBD.
Norman and Janet Richards refused to give up the three-bedroom home when developers came knocking — even when they got out their fat cheque books.
However, in 2015, after the passing of Mr Richards, and Mrs Richards’ move into a retirement home, 42 Mollison St was finally sold.
The three-bedroom home, which is sandwiched between a shopping complex, which houses a Coles supermarket and 25 speciality shops on one side and unit blocks on the other, sold under the hammer at the time for $1.4 million.
A real estate agent who sold the home at the time said he believed it wouldn’t be bulldozed anytime in the near future.
“It was bought by an out of town investor and I think they’re going to put some family in it,” he said.
Lo and behold the two storey home is still standing defiantly in the centre of Brisbane — where it is now being rented out to The House Conspiracy as an artists’ residence.
328 Kingsway, South Melbourne
Perhaps one of the most striking holdout homes in Australia sits alongside the busy Kings Way in South Melbourne.
Sat right in the middle of a massive and modern apartment complex, the home has forced developers to get creative and shape the tower around it.
According to realestate.com.au, the home and another similar house on Kings Way have been earmarked as heritage listed homes.
It means they are protected by councils to maintain the charm of historic Australian architecture, and that developers have to work around them by law.
Pint-sized property among St Leonard’s towers
While some Aussie homes have been protected against development, one of Australia’s most well-known holdout homes has been boarded up for years and could be knocked down before long.
Wedged between two multistorey unit blocks in St Leonards — on Sydney’s north shore — the narrow abode was listed for auction in 2019 as part of a combined ‘super lot’ incorporating 19-33 Chandos St.
According to the North Shore Times, the property’s history dates back more than 75 years with records showing it was sold in the 1960s for £3000 to jeweller and businessman John Clarke.
The tiny building remained a family-owned jewellery shop, John Clarke & Son, until 2017 when it was reportedly sold for $3.5 million.
The single storey building has remained boarded up ever since.
The Zammit family – The Ponds, Sydney
An Aussie home that stands out in entirely different way belongs to the Zammit family in the far northwest of Sydney.
The two-hectare stretch of land at The Ponds sticks out like a sore thumb after rows of hundreds of houses sitting side-by-side sprang up around the block in recent years.
A local real estate agent has praised the family for staying put, despite the big cheques they have likely been offered.
“The fact that most people sold out years and years ago, these guys have held on. All credit to them,” Ray White Quakers Hill agent Taylor Bredin told 7 News, adding that up to 50 houses could probably be built on the land.
“Depending on how far you push the development plan, you’d be able to push anywhere from 40 to 50 properties on something like this, and when subdivided, a 300 square metre block would get a million dollars.”
A lush lawn and huge 200 metre driveway leads up to the brick home with a triple garage. The property also features a huge shed and is about a 40-minute drive from Sydney’s CBD with views of the Blue Mountains.
The high-density neighbouring homes are built right up to the fence of the property, and neighbours reportedly don’t want the owners to sell as they like living in a cul-de-sac.
Rhodes Central, Sydney
Another owner who refused to give up their property can be found in Sydney’s inner-west where a lone single-story house sits wedged between towering new high-rises.
Like a scene straight out of the Disney-Pixar film Up, the three-bedroom brick rental in Rhodes has stayed put despite developers’ interest.
It means the home – leased for $900 a week – is now surrounded by huge residential towers and a shopping and dining precinct as part of Rhodes Central. On the other side of the road is a train station.
But a man who manages a nearby building claimed the owner of the house, an elderly woman, wanted far more for the property than developers were willing to pay.
“(Other) owners were smart and sold, but this woman wanted $20 million and the developers basically laughed at her,” he told Daily Mail.
“She should have asked for $2 million and an apartment in the new building.”
Winston and Adele Marsden, Abbotsford, Sydney
Another bizarre sight in Sydney is a home in Abbotsford, in the city’s inner west.
The four-bedder that seems to sink in between its surrounding buildings was built originally as a single-storey home back in 1940, and it belongs to 81-year-old Winston Marsden and his 77-year-old wife Adele.
The Marsdens have a long list of issues they’ve had to endure over the years, from alleged antics from developers that drove them up the wall, to the sounds of trucks reversing each morning and people parking in their driveway.
However, the couple are able to look on the ups and downs of their time in the home with good humour, and they are happy just where they are.
“We looked into moving and we weighed up the pros and cons,” he said. “But there was far more in favour of us staying than there was of going anywhere else.”
After all the problems they’ve endured over the years, the couple say they feel they have finally won the battle against the developers.
Money doesn’t appear to factor into the equation for the Marsdens. Despite the fact the home would likely fetch a fortune in today’s red hot property market — and homes nearby selling for upwards of $3 million — the home contains too many memories for them to consider moving out now.
“We’ve won. We’re here forever,” said Winston. “They’ll have to cart me out in a box when I leave.”
Edith Macefield – the inspiration for Up
While the rest of out holdout homes are in Australia there are a couple of overseas houses worth looking at.
One of the them was the real-life inspiration behind Disney’s Up and it belonged to Edith Macefield.
Ms Macefield received worldwide attention in 2006 when she turned down an offer of US$1 million (AU$1.36m) to sell her house to make way for a commercial development in the Ballard neighbourhood of Seattle, Washington.
But instead of encroaching on her lifestyle the construction became an advantage to her. Construction chief Barry Martin became Macefield’s aide who picked up her medications and groceries; eventually becoming her heir when she died at 86. Mr Martin sold the house for US$310,000 (A$422,000). She had paid just $3750 (A$5103) for the home in 1952.
China’s crazy motorway home
One of the world’s most bizarre holdout homes belonged to Luo Baoge in China who insisted on living in a half-demolished building near the city of Wenling, in Zhejiang province.
Local reports stated that the homeowner was not happy with the relocation compensation offered by the government.
One Chinese newspaper reported that Luo had only just completed his house at a cost of about 600,000 yuan ($A131,564). He had been offered 220,000 yuan ($A43,854) to move out.
The five story block had cars driving around while the family lived inside. However the incessant media attention eventually pushed Luo out the door and the property was eventually demolished.
— with Chantelle Francis
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