Twist as family take a $40million stand against property developers near Schofields, Sydney

A house sitting on a sprawling 20,000 sq m block was once on the market for $850,000 less than ten years ago – despite now being worth up to $50 million.

The house on Hambledon Road in The Ponds, in Sydney’s north-west, has caused a stir across the country due to the owners’ refusal to sell.

For decades, the intensely private Zammit family have been the proud owners of the five-acre property that includes a 200-foot-long driveway and three-car garage.

The house runs through a massive block of new development, abruptly turning the streets into cul-de-sacs, with houses clinging tightly to the house’s boundary fence.

It boasts stunning views over the Blue Mountains with the spectacular Newnes Plateau visible in the distance and is only a 40 minute drive from the CBD.

The Zammits have turned down offers from developers reportedly as high as $50 million.

But in November 2015, it was listed on the market for seven days with a price guide of $858,000 to $945,000, home records on RP Data show.

The house is buzzing in the middle of a new development in The Ponds area near Quakers Hill in Sydney’s north west

Zammit’s property is believed to have more than five bedrooms and boasts a large triple garage for the family’s cars, including a classic Ford Falcon XR6, and a basketball court.

In February 2016, the home went up for sale again for the same price guide, but was then taken off the market again after a week.

Just a few years later, they are believed to have received offers ranging from $33 million to $50 million.

It is no longer listed.

The Zammits are an extremely private family and have refused to discuss offers to leave.

However, they have admitted that the land is unfamiliar since they moved in 16 years ago.

“It used to be farmland filled with little red-brick houses and cottages,” mother Diane Zammit previously told Daily Mail Australia.

Quakers Hill House sits on 1.99 acres and has a grand Windsor Castle-style driveway, 200 meters long, that runs across the large lawn to the front door.

Developers gradually built up the surrounding blocks, but the intensely private Zammit family refused to sell

The family has refused to disclose the offers developers have made them for the property

“Each house was unique and had plenty of space – but not anymore. It’s not the same.’

Stunning aerial images have emerged of the home and show the huge changes to the area since the family moved in two decades ago.

Australian buyer’s agent Ella Cas, 22, said the lot was worth so much because it could be divided into 46 or 56 lots depending on how conservative or ‘greedy’ the developer was.

The average lot size in the area is 300m2, with each selling for around $780,000.

“So if developed the revenue would conservatively be $35.8 million or $43.68 million if I’m a Sydney developer,” Ms Cas explains.

“That doesn’t even include the cost of development, and you already haven’t made back the $50 million you spent on the land.”

Zammit’s property is believed to have more than five bedrooms and boasts a large garage for the family’s cars, including a classic Ford Falcon XR6, along with a makeshift basketball court.

Her massive but neatly manicured lawn takes about two and a half hours to mow, with the couple’s young son regularly tasked with the epic chore.

The house is surrounded by about 750 meters of fencing to contain the growing and ongoing construction work erupting around them.

Adjacent blocks of land sold for as much as $239/m² in 2012 – which would have valued the Zammits’ five-acre property at around $4.75 million 10 years ago