Neighbours may have labelled the home an ‘eyesore’ but its location sandwiched between some huge developments in Sydney, Australia, made it attractive to bidders
A stubborn elderly woman who refused to sell her tiny home with an outside toilet has finally relented – making herself a huge profit in the process.
The house, wedged between two huge developments, has been the subject of a property war for years in Rhodes, Sydney, Australia. Developers have been desperate to get their hands on it, with the 676sqm block an ideal plot for lavish apartments and a gym, making it highly attractive to investors.
But the owner wouldn’t sell, and refused to buckle to major developer Billbergia unless they coughed up $20million, around £10million. Years later, she sold her modest home for $8.2million, more than £4million, after putting her home up for sale at auction, with 150 people interested.
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It means she registered a very healthy profit after originally purchasing the house for $1.5million, around £770,000 more than a decade ago. It could be the most expensive basic home anywhere in the world, with the tiny property boasting just two bedrooms and one small bathroom. It is now expected to be knocked down within months.
“We thought it would go for between $7milllion and $7.5million and the important thing was we got a really good price,” estate agent Vanessa Kim told Daily Mail Australia. “There were so many buyers there, but it was a bit like hide-and-seek among them in the crowd. It was the only house like that in the street so it was a lonely project but we sold it for an unbelievable price.”
It’s not just lavish mansions selling for big money. In London, a quirky two-bedroom flat in one of Britain’s thinnest homes fetched £775,000 after months on the market. The apartment at its narrowest point is just six feet wide and at its widest measures 13 feet from front to back. Despite its size, the unusual home hasn’t put off would-be buyers, mainly thanks to its address at Thurloe Square in posh South Kensington, London.
The history of the odd looking property is as fascinating as its appearance. Lots of the houses on the square were designed in the 19th century by London architect George Basevi and were traditional in style with column porches at the entrances. Around 20 years later 23 of them were sold to the Metropolitan District Railway, which was working on what we know today as the London Underground or Tube.
The government eventually banned them from building an entrance to South Kensington station so not all the houses were demolished, although many had their back gardens greatly reduced in size. Local builder William Douglas saw an opportunity to develop the little triangle of building that was left at 1-5 Thurloe Square into artist’s studios as Kensington was becoming a hub for artists at the time. The flats that are now selling for extortionate prices are the original studios he managed to squeeze into the space.