82-year-old grandmother rejects $27 million offer on home
Like a scene out of the classic Australian comedy, The Castle, one home owner has turned down all offers to buy her out of her property.
An 82-year-old grandmother from the Sydney suburb of Castle Hill has turned down an AU$26 million (NZ$27 million) offer to sell her home.
Retired schoolteacher Ruth, who requested her surname not be used, was approached by developers looking to transform her 2500-square-metre corner block, Domain.com.au reported.
"But I told them no," Ruth said. "Then they kept coming back. You'll never believe what they ended up offering me - $26 million!"
Domain reports that Castle Hill was once full of large detached dwellings on sizeable blocks. But now, they're being replaced with medium and high-density housing - "row after row of tower blocks" - in the sought-after area.
In late 2014, a block of five properties opposite Ruth's house sold to developers for $20.5 million. However, the grandmother of six said she had "no intention" of selling up.
"I don't care if they offer me $50 million," she told Domain.
"Of course it's a lot of money, and my children would love me to sell, but it's irrelevant to me. Things are changing, I can see that happening, and I think I will be lonely here in a way when the neighbours move out and they pull their houses down.
"But money isn't everything."
Ruth purchased the land with her late shopkeeper husband Elli 55 years ago, and designed the house herself.
She still tends to her garden, and collects eggs from her chickens on the property.
Ruth told Domain she was happy her neighbours had done well, but Castle Hill was her home.
"I went to the Girl Guides at the end of the road, we set up a soccer club here, there was the pony club and the yearly shows, and all the neighbours used to get together for lunch," she said.
"It was about working together to help each other out and I couldn't walk down the street without seeing people I knew. It always had a lovely atmosphere. It used to be paddocks and people rode their horses along the street."
Would you sell your home for 27 million dollars? Let us know in the comments below.
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