A stubborn family who have refused to sell their land to build new homes now live in the middle of a sprawling housing estate.
In scenes reminiscent of the Pixar film Up, the Zammit family home in Sydney stands out from the crowd with its sprawling 200m pristine lawn and massive exterior, as row after row of identical houses line up around it.
Developers are lining up with huge cash offers to tempt the owners of the spectacular house to move out and let the bulldozers in, but they refuse to budge.
The imposing mansion in The Ponds, in Sydney’s northwest, sits on highly sought-after land and could make its owners millionaires if they finally give in.
Experts put the price of the land at an impressive $60 million (£30 million) in Australia’s booming property market, but the defiant family refuses to sell.
Their beautiful home sits on 1.99 hectares and has a majestic 200m long, Windsor Castle style driveway that runs across the huge lawn to the front door.
The sprawling mansion on Hambledon Road, in The Ponds, in Sydney’s northwest, is at the center of a major development, with rows of dozens of identical houses clustered next to the five-acre property.
Neighboring land sold for as much as $239 per square meter in 2012, which would have valued the Zammits’ five-acre property at about $4.75 million 10 years ago.
The Windsor Castle-style driveway is 200m long, while the house also has a huge barn to the rear and a three-car garage.
It also has views of the picturesque Blue Mountains and is around 40 minutes’ drive from Sydney’s central business district.
The Zammits have already turned down offers from property developers reportedly worth $40 million (£20 million), and new requests emerge every day from estate agents asking the family to call them in their relentless search of the property.
When MailOnline visited the house this week, business cards from potential agents and buyers could be seen strewn around the front door, with handwritten pleas begging the family to get in touch.
Among them was local estate agency Cutcliffe, who confirmed they had not yet spoken to the Zammits, but were interested in discussing a possible sale.
Aerial photographs show how the area around the house, once a green field at the edge of town, has now been absorbed by housing.
Developers have simply built around them, and dozens of families with barely enough room to kick a soccer ball now share a boundary fence with the massive block of land.
The Zammit family has been turning down offers from developers that are reportedly worth $40 million.
But neighbors who live next door to the Zammits said they had no problem with the family refusing to sell.
“It doesn’t really bother us,” one parent said.
“It’s their land, they can do with it whatever they want.”
Another woman who lived on the other side had a similar opinion.
“If I had that property, I would do the same thing,” the mother said.
‘I’m with them!’
The intensely secretive family has ignored any interest in their land, and mother Diane Zammit refused to speak when we visited her at her home this week.
Residents of the close-knit community said the family was quiet and mostly reserved, and was rarely seen enjoying their enormous property beyond keeping the acres of lawn neatly trimmed.
Despite the enormous valuation now placed on the house, less than ten years ago it briefly appeared on the market at a bargain price.
Neighboring land sold for as much as $239 per m2 in 2012, which would have valued the Zammits’ 20,000 m2 property at about $4.78 million 10 years ago.
But for seven days in November 2015, it was suddenly listed for sale with a price guide of just $858,000 to $945,000, RP Data real estate records show.
In February 2016, the house was put up for sale again for the same guide price, but was taken off the market once again after just one week.
It has not appeared on the list again.
The Zammits They have previously admitted that the land is unrecognizable since they moved in 16 years ago.
Mrs Zammit told Daily Mail Australia two years ago: ‘It used to be farmland dotted with small red brick houses and cottages.
The Zammits’ property is believed to have more than five bedrooms and features a large triple garage for the family’s cars, including a classic Ford Falcon XR6, and a basketball court.
Developers gradually raised the surrounding land, but the intensely private Zammit family refused to sell it.
The family has refused to reveal the offers that the developers have made to them for the property
‘Each house was unique and there was plenty of space, but not anymore. It’s just not the same.’
Other homes in the neighboring development are selling for around $1.5 million.
The Zammits’ property is believed to have more than five bedrooms and features a large garage for the family’s cars, including a classic Ford Falcon XR6, alongside a makeshift basketball court.
A small enclosure for their two dogs could also be seen, but despite the large amount of land, the property has no luxuries such as a swimming pool or a tennis court, not even a single tree or bush.
It takes about two and a half hours to mow their enormous but well-manicured lawn, and the couple’s young son regularly handles this epic job, neighbors say.
The current valuation is almost unimaginable, but the land is worth more than $40 million to local developers Bathla, who could include 40 new $1 million homes in the space.
The house is surrounded by around 750m of fencing to contain the burgeoning and ongoing construction work springing up around it.
There is no clear indication why the family has so far rejected all sales offers, but every day they resist, the price increases.
“The land would probably be worth about $60 million if it were developed now,” said a local real estate analyst, who estimated that 40 new homes could fit on the block.
‘Even if someone paid them $40 million for it, the promoter could make at least $20 million.
‘And given the way Sydney house prices continue to rise, even a $60 million price tag would return the developer a substantial profit by the time the homes are finally approved, built and sold.
“You must really love that house to ignore that amount of money.”
