High-rises surround home after owner refused to sell to developers

As an area in Sydney becomes home a high-rise community, a lone single-storey brick house remains.

A lone single-story house sits wedged between towering new high-rises in Sydney, after the owner refused to give up their property.

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.

The first stage of a $2.5 billion town centre opened its doors last year.

According to Architecture & Design, developers Billbergia started buying parcels of land for the project in the 1990s.

An image of the home has been posted on social media, prompting a discussion about other homeowners who wouldn’t sell up to developers. Picture: Reddit / YeahNotTooBadAye

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.”

The house on Walker Street is leased. Picture: Ray White / realestate.com.au

The property also has a decent sized backyard. Picture: Ray White / realestate.com.au

A photo of the house has also recently appeared on Reddit encouraging conversation about other houses surrounded by redevelopment.

The Reddit user claimed Billbergia had confirmed with them it was “an old lady who refused to sell for their offer and asked more than they were willing to pay”.

The owner reportedly has a multi million-dollar housing portfolio throughout Sydney.

news.com.au contacted the rental’s property manager and Billbergia for comment.

According to realestate.com.au the property was sold in 2012 for $1.7 million and then again in 2017 for $978,000. The property site estimates it to be now worth about $2 million.

Rhodes Central during construction. Picture: Toby Zerna / Sunday Telegraph

Stories of defiant homeowners refusing to give up their properties to developers often strike a chord, which is why the movie The Castle is an Australian favourite.

In China, buildings that are left standing alone as development progresses around them are known as “nail houses”, with the expression now used more widely around the world.

Recently, stunning images of a family home on a huge block of land surrounded by a housing development in Sydney grabbed the nation’s attention.

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 and the defiant owners refused to sell.

Another Aussie home in Queensland was nicknamed “Brisbane’s Up house” because it was sandwiched between a shopping complex after its owners refused to sell.

Janet Richards finally sold the home in 2015, fifteen years after developers came knocking. Her late husband Norman was born in the home more than 100 years ago.

The Queensland home nicknamed Brisbane’s Up house. Picture: Peter Wallis

The hit movie Up was inspired by the real-life story of Edith Macefield, who refused an offer of $1 million ($A1.3m) from developers in 2006 to sell her house in Seattle.

Developers continued with their project by building around the home, leaving it surrounded by concrete walls.

In a heartwarming turn of events, Macefield ended up striking up a friendship with construction chief Barry Martin who cared for her when she was ill and eventually became her heir when she died at 86 in 2008.

Another memorable real-life “nail house” story is that of Chinese homeowner Luo Baogen, who refused to allow his home to be demolished and instead ended up living in a half-demolished apartment building in the middle of a highway in 2012.

He later gave up the home and the building was demolished, but not before it made headlines around the world.