Members of the Spence clan wept and consoled one another yesterday as they watched decades of family history come tumbling down with the demolition of their home at 64 Cliff Rd.
Mark, Matthew, Stephen and Shari Spence were on site at 7am to see the destruction of the cottage they grew up in, which was sold to Indian mining company Gujarat NRE last year for a record $5 million.
As the bricks came crashing down and timber was torn up, the family shared laughter as well as tears, as childhood memories flooded back.
SLIDESHOW: Cliff Rd landmark is torn downThe siblings made the decision to sell the house, which had been the family home since it was built in the 1920s by their great-grandfather, after the death of their mother, Norma Spence.
As Mark Spence stood and watched his childhood bedroom ripped apart by the excavator, he said he was comfortable with the decision to sell up.
"When mum died it lost its heartbeat," he said.
Mrs Spence made headlines during her lifetime for her resistance to selling the property, which was known as "the jewel of Cliff Rd". In 1997 she turned down a $3 million offer by developer John Carson, who needed the land to pull off his plan to build a $60 million hotel on Cliff Rd.
Mrs Spence died in the house on her 74th birthday, having lived there since she was eight months old.
The Spence siblings, and their own children, said it was the end of an era as they photographed the historic moment and captured it on video camera.
Mr Spence said he felt fortunate to have grown up in such a spectacular location.
"We're the luckiest family alive to have lived here," he said.
"Part of me wants to cry (at the demolition) and the other half is relieved. It's a strange sort of feeling but I guess it's closure for the family. We don't have to drive past and look at it anymore."
"It's closure but as mum would say, when one door closes, another door opens," his sister added.
"She made sure we were all left a fantastic legacy and we can do the same for our children."
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