“Look at this. Why would you get rid of a wonderful little garden and replace it with lawn and concrete? They’re making the place worse, if anything.”
Rory and Elsa Varren have recently outgrown their house, and moved to a slightly larger one that can accommodate their growing family.
Since settling their sale a few months ago, they have often found themselves driving past their old house. It's not too far out of the way, only a suburb or two from their new home.
The new owners have made nothing but bad decisions since moving in, according to the couple.
In particular, according to Elsa, the changes to the garden have been catastrophic.
“They’ve got bloody rocks in their heads. That little garden was my pride and joy. They were very lucky to receive it in such a well-maintained condition. And they’ve basically packed it in and replaced it with lawn and bloody concrete. I know I’m biased but this is poor decision-making at its finest.”
We informed Elsa that this feeling is extremely common when strangers take ownership of your former home.
However, Elsa was having none of it.
“Yes I’m sure some people are irrational about it. With all the emotion involved and that sort of thing. But I’m being objective. We had that place looking so lovely and they’re basically trashing it. I don’t know why we keep going out of our way to drive past that place. I really don’t.”
Despite the heartache it causes, the lure of driving past your old house is too tempting for all but the strongest-willed among us. But do so at your own peril.