Amazing video shows suburb grow around famous Sydney home

An Aussie family has become famous for holding out on big offers as homes sprung up around them, A new video shows just how patient they’ve been.

An amazing timelapse video capturing an entire suburb spring up around the home of a Sydney family who refused to sell has shown why there’s “not another place like it” in the city.

The Zammits have watched The Ponds grow around their 20,000 sqm property over the past decade, and their “stubbornness” to hold out on big offers has captured attention worldwide.

An aerial view of how the area has changed around the famous home between 2010 and 2024 was posted to a street art Instagram page with 16 million followers last week, with American DJ Diplo even giving it a like. See it below:

There have been media reports the 1.99 hectare Hambledon Rd estate could be worth $50 million to developers, and that the Zammits have turned down offers in the tens of millions.

Sales of similar sized plots just down the road might offer some insight into its price, with the larger 2.5 hectare Sultonesi Estate selling for $26 million in 2021.

It’s understood a deal has recently been struck for an even larger parcel of real estate in Sydney’s northwest for about the same price.

Developer Bathla, which has built many of the homes around the Zammits and was linked in media reports as wanting to buy it, is selling plots of land at the old Sultonesi Estate.

The Zammit home in The Ponds. Picture: Brook Mitchell/AFP

Its website shows 35 lots ranging from 250 sqm to 562 sqm have been subdivided a the site on 54 Hambledon Rd, with space to spare.

Fred Khurana, a local sales estate agent, said land sales came down to “the numbers” – or essentially how many homes could be built to recoup developers’ outlays.

“Anyone can say $50 million, $100 million, $200 million,” he said of the Zammit property.

But if a developer was to pay $50 million or more for the land it would then need to sell homes way above the going rate for the area, he said.

“It’s not $50 million, it’s not $100 million – no way in the world.”

The Zammits’ land can been see a few blocks up from 54 Hambledon Rd. Picture: Supplied

This is how that was subdivided after selling for $26m. Picture: Bathla

The median house price in The Ponds was about $1.6 million as of March, up from $950,000 five years ago.

Mr Khurana said The Ponds’ market was “doing well” with many families moving to the suburb between Blacktown and Rouse Hill.

Jolin Wang, an agent who is selling a home right next to the Zammits, said most plots in that area were between 250 to 325 sqm.

Single-storey homes were going for up to $1.2 million and five-bedders for up to $1.5 million, she said.

Speaking on whether she knew of any agents courting the Zammits, she said of the family: “I don’t think they’re open to it”.

The Ponds is one of the big growth suburbs of northwest Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It has been estimated about 50 houses could fit on the block of land if they followed the same style as other homes in the area.

Another agent asked if the previously reported $50 million land value was on the money would not be drawn.

“The answer is who knows,” he said. “It’s supply and demand and there’s no supply.”

Speaking to The Daily Mail in 2022, owner Diane Zammit said the neighbourhood used to be “farmland dotted with little red brick homes and cottages”.

“Every home was unique and there was so much space — but not any more,” she said. “It’s just not the same.”

Neighbours living near the Zammits’ property say they rarely see or hear from the family, who are known to be private and rarely speak with media.

Some residents who live along its high boundary fence told news.com.au the owners were occasionally spotted on their sprawling lawns.

One local, who asked not to be named, said although she was “of course” jealous of the space enjoyed by the Zammit family, it was peaceful to live next-door.

“It’s nice and quiet, no disturbances,” she said.

She also understood completely why the family has held onto their home: “You’ll never get another place like it in Sydney”.

Proud homeowners in the streets around the Zammits last year hit back at an “over-reaction” on social media after users expressed horror at the “awful” sight of their cramped neighbourhood.

An image shared to social media of a new subdivision went viral in December, sparking uproar about the types of modern homes the country is building.

“I do have a decent backyard, a sizeable backyard. I don’t see a problem with it to be honest,” Manohar Muralidhara told news.com.au at the time.

“I thought people were overreacting. Yes the houses are close, if you see these houses they are town homes, they look close, but it’s not the case everywhere.”

Originally published as Amazing video shows suburb grow around famous Sydney home