A woman from the United Kingdom has spent her entire life in a house she purchased for $250.
Elsie Allcock was born on June 28, 1918, in Huthwaite, in a two-bedroom terraced house on Barker Street.
According to The Sun, Elsie’s father, a coal miner at the time, rented the house for seven shillings and sixpence in 1902.
George V was the king of the United Kingdom at the time of her birth. She has lived through two world wars, four kings and queens, and 25 prime ministers while living in the same house.
Elsie is the youngest of her parents’ five children, with four older siblings. Her mother died when she was 14 years old after contracting pneumonia.
In 1941, while World War II was still going on, she married a man named Bill.
Allcock told the outlet, “My mum, Eliza, died when I was just a teenager, so I stayed to look after my dad. I was close to my dad. We made so many memories together in our house. I used to cook for him and care for him. He wanted me to keep the house as it held so much emotional value for him.”
“When I and Bill got married, we just stopped here and never left. I told him I love this house and I will never leave it, and he understood me. He cooperated with me in every way possible.”
She also stated that Bill adored her and respected her decision not to relocate.
“My dad died in 1949 and we finally bought the house in the 1960s. The landlord offered the home — now worth £75,000 — for £250.”
“We didn’t have £250, so I went to the council and asked for a loan. They agreed, and the house was ours.”
“The first thing we did was have a bathroom put in to replace a tin bath. We kept the outside loo — it still works. Very little has changed.”
“I wouldn’t have been happy anywhere else. This is my home, and it means everything to me. I could make my way round it in the dark.”
She has two children, six grandchildren, and twenty-nine great-grandchildren. Bill, Elsie’s husband, died in 1996 at the age of 79.
Elsie’s family also spoke with the outlet and agreed that she would not leave her old house because she couldn’t live anywhere else.
“This house is everything to her. She will never leave this house that holds so much importance in her life. She just loves it — and it’s full of memories.”
Pat Allcock, Ray’s wife, and Elsie’s daughter-in-law, said, “The house is the focal point for the entire family.”