A Brisbane grandmother refused offers from anyone wanting to raze her decades-old home and took slightly less from the sale after a young couple promised to retain it. Picture: Supplied
In a soaring property market where greed has crept into the minds of vendors, a grandmother has provided a reality check that money is not everything.
Octogenarian Rosemary Bartlam has just sold her decades-old house, not to the highest bidder, but to first-time homebuyers who have promised not to raze it, but live it.
For more than five decades Ms Bartlam had called 10 Merrell St, Holland Park West her home.
It was where she, and her late-husband Edward who bought the house new in 1959, raised their four children.
Rosemary Bartlam with first-time home buyers Madeline Pyke-Moran and partner Josh Cawse who say they intend to live in the house and maintain the yard which contains a 70-year-old camellia tree. Picture: Supplied
But following Edwards’ death last year, the upkeep of the property on more than 630sq m in a cul-de-sac became too much for Ms Bartlam.
It was now time to downsize to a villa although selling the home was never going to be about obtaining every dollar, for the spritely grandmother.
Too many houses in her neighbourhood have been razed for her liking in recent years and she was determined her 62-year-old abode would not become another casualty of progress.
It’s why she asked her real estate to vet offers with an eye on the plans of what prospective owners intended for her property.
The money of anyone who planned to bulldoze the home was never going to be good enough for Ms Bartlam.
Rosemary Bartlam said too many ‘character’ home had been razed in her area and she wanted a buyer who would appreciate the history of her house. Picture: Google Maps
“I think it’s just a disgrace well-built homes are being knocked down in the area and I didn’t want that to happen to mine,” Ms Bartlam said.
“It’s a terrible waste and bad for the environment and there were people up the road who wanted to have their house removed and give it to charity and it was a similar age to ours but the builders came in and pushed it down to rubble.”
As expressions of interest rolled-in, Atlas real estate agent Roger Carr became the gatekeeper for Ms Bartlam.
He said almost everyone interested in buying the house had intentions to bulldoze it.
“I was giving her feedback on what buyers would be doing with the home and it became very apparent at that time she did not want to sell it to someone who was going to knock it down and most people wanted to demolish it,” he said.
“She is staying in the area and she said it would break her heart if she came past and it was gone.”
Mr Carr said Ms Bartlam took slightly less than the highest offer when she settled for $705,000 with first-time home buyers Madeline Pyke-Moran and partner Josh Cawse.
The updated kitchen in the 62 year-old home to a young couple who have promised to retain the house and the yard.
The couple, in their expression of interest, stated they would live in the house, which despite its age has 21st century mod-cons such as split system airconditioning, water tanks and solar panels, and look after the garden and that sealed it, Ms Bartlam said.
“The price I got was enough for what I needed, and I like the idea of a young couple starting off their life and loving the house that we did,” Ms Bartlam said.
“Now they will put their own stamp on it but the house will remain.”
It’s not just the house that holds memories for Ms Bartlam, who is moving “not too far away”.
“We have a camellia tree that he (Edward) transplanted his parents garden to our home, they didn’t live far away, and that would have to be nearly 70 years ago,” she said.
Plenty of room to extend! The character home sits on a 633sq m block. Picture: Supplied
Ms Pyke-Moran had all but given up of finding a house this year at least after seven months of fruitless searching, house inspections and attending auctions when not in lockdown.
If not for her father’s insistence to lodge an expression of interest, even just to get used to the process, she would never have made an offer.
“I had been looking at houses from the start of the year and had become unmotivated as I thought I would get nowhere, so I am excited because I did not expect this at all,” she said.
“I wasn’t going to put in an expression of interest but my dad pushed me and said ‘it’s good practice and you need to do it’. It was first one I had put in.”
The 23-year-old said they had already moved in, posting their handiwork in the house and garden on social media.
“We’ve already made some improvements to the garden and Rosemary is excited about it,” she said.
“I feel so fortunate and I have been given a gift from a stranger who has now become a friend and it’s incredible.
“We are living in the loungeroom at the moment as we are doing renovations at the moment and some of the renovations Rosemary suggested.”
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