Certain images are able, at a simple glance, to tell us incredible and exemplary stories . Think of a densely populated district of any city, one where building development is massive and extensive. Would you ever think of seeing, among many identical houses, a large green space with only one building in the middle?
Wait to answer no, because the story we are about to tell you is ready to prove you wrong. The protagonists are the members of an Australian family who, in Sydney , have turned down offers of millions to keep their property. Even if it is not the first time we have witnessed such scenes, the images that portray their home are truly fascinating. Ready to get to know this example of concrete resistance more closely?
The #Zammit family refuse to sell to developers to live in their dream home – while 100s of new-build houses are crammed around their home in the Ponds area, #QuakersHill #Sydney #Australia
— Mr Pål Christiansen 🇳🇴😍🇬🇧 (@TheNorskaPaul) March 20, 2022
They’ve been offered MILLIONS but ‘tell em they’re dreamin.’ 😂👍 pic.twitter.com/kq8UJRqyJs
Not everyone is lucky enough to live in the home of their dreams and certainly, when this happens, one is absolutely not willing to abandon it. Not even for a few million dollars. A principle that is fundamental to the Zammit family, who have lived at The Ponds in western Sydney for years . Their property is a family asset that they care so much about that they have decided to refuse even the most attractive offers of money that the builders have put on the negotiating table.
In fact , dozens and dozens of single-family houses, all identical , have been built around the land and the Zammit villa . A huge building block that changed the look of that area forever and that, for the builders, brought exorbitant profits. All the old neighbors of the Zammits, in the face of offers to buy their land, have sold or moved. But not them.
Their property, 10 years ago, was worth almost 5 million dollars : it is therefore not difficult to imagine that today, this family could obtain similar or higher figures. To better understand, just think that the houses on that large piece of land over 2 hectares would earn the builders about 40 million!
Yet the Zammits are still there, with their house surrounded by grass, “breaking up” the rows of similar houses attached to each other . A symbolic image, that of the land they own, a true bulwark of resistance in a world where, often, urbanization is unregulated and far too massive. ” We are a very private family – say the Zammits – the builders dream if they think about buying from us, we will never sell our property “.
” Once upon a time there was only agricultural land with red brick houses and cottages “, said 50-year-old Diane Zammit , who lives in the famous villa with her husband David and their son. And the neighbors? They couldn’t be happier that the categorical refusal to sell that land means, for them, having a green space to admire among so many houses, an opening in the concrete that certainly gives them air and breath.
Thus, while agencies and companies continue to make offers to the family without success, the Zammits remain firm, to counter the construction boom in their resilient “palace” surrounded by greenery that distinguishes itself from all the other houses.
What do you think of their story? What would you have done in their place?