Callum Jones
With the massive amounts of money being pumped into modernizing local communities across the country, there are some people that can get left behind.
Residents can sometimes be paid large sums to leave their homes so developments can take place in the surrounding area.
However, one family in Australia went against that tradition after they refused a AUD$50 million offer from developers who then constructed a suburb around their entire property.
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The Zammit family had lived on the plot of land in Sydney for years, and that’s the way they wanted things to stay.
The impressive Windsor Castle-style home is decked out with a 650-foot driveway surrounded by lush green gardens with a panoramic view of the Blue Mountains.
On top of that, the property is just 40 mins away from the centre of Sydney, so what is not to love?
The house, located on Hambledon Road, stretches across five acres of land which equates to two-hectares of area and became a symbol of the family's determination to stay in their neighborhood.
And a 30-second time-lapse video shows how developers completely restructured the area around the house, creating a very odd-looking neighborhood in the process.
Before the developers got to work, the property was surrounded by lots of open green space, but now there are rows of regular, suburban homes.
And, to the surprise of no one, the humongous mansion and its lengthy garden could have essentially become an entire street if developers could have had their way.
When the majority of the neighboring houses were sold in 2012 to make way for developers, the house that stayed would have been valued at approximately AUD$4.75 million.
However, in May last year, experts said that the house could be worth a whopping AUD$50 million.
Amid the bustling new-build development in The Ponds area near Quakers Hill, Taylor Bredin, a real estate agent with Ray White Quakers Hill, told 7News: "The fact that most people sold out years and years ago, these guys have held on. All credit to them."
Bredin also suggested that the land has the capacity to accommodate around 50 houses, and if subdivided into 3,200-square-foot blocks, each could potentially be valued at a whopping one million dollars.
However, the homeowners denied revealing their plans about selling the property, 7News reported.
While you expect the majority of people to just up roots and leave when properly developers come calling, this story is a perfect example of standing your ground - despite the money that may be on offer.