How’s the serenity?

In a storyline worth of classic Aussie film The Castle, an Adelaide family have finally sold their 1.21ha property after holding out for decades.

The property has been owned by the Miliado family for 60 years and developers have been knocking on their door for half that time.

The massive section, home to just one three-bedroom house built in 1955 and an accompanying shed, is now surrounded by the suburb that sprang up around it and Harris Real Estate agent Clinton Nguyen told The Advertiser there was a lot of interest in the sale, leading to a battle between 20 developers to secure the site.

It finally sold on Tuesday for just over $6 million, $2.4m above the guide price.

The interior of the home remains largely untouched.

“We weren’t [initially] certain in terms of what you could potentially put on that land and how much the council would approve but once most developers did their due diligence, we had a good sense of that this property was going to perform quite well at auction,” Nguyen said.

His colleague Tom Hector said it was a “very sad sale” for the family, who were only now selling the land as a deceased estate after their parents died.

“The owners lived in that house up until the end, which was quite recently,” he said.

“I’ve been told they’ve had developers knocking on their door for the last 30 years … but [the family] didn’t sell because their mum and dad were still alive.

“It was their wish to never let that property go,” he explained, adding that it was now costing the family too much to hold on to.

The property was sold as a deceased estate.

The property, in the Adelaide suburb of Salisbury, is close to a golf course and shops and was advertised as “an unmatched residential building opportunity”, with Tom Hector telling 7News the site was ripe with potential.

“The developers have to let their imagination go wild, subject to what they can do with an urban planner,” he said.

Elsewhere in Australia, another family are still holding on to their property despite continued interest from developers.

The Zammit family are staying put on their two-hectare site in Sydney’s The Ponds, with their stubborn refusals making headlines worldwide last year.

Neighbours reportedly don't want the owners to sell because they like living in a cul-de-sac. Photo / Seven News

“The fact that most people sold out years and years ago, these guys have held on. All credit to them,” Ray White Quakers Hill agent Taylor Bredin told 7News last year, adding that up to 50 houses could probably be built on the land.

“Depending on how far you push the development plan, you’d be able to push anywhere from 40 to 50 properties on something like this, and when subdivided, a 300-square-metre block would get a million dollars.”