Like the cantankerous widower in the Pixar movie Up, the most stubborn real estate owners of all time resisted every attempt by powerful developers to drive them out, steadfastly staying put while neighbouring properties were razed to the ground. Against all odds, their real estate holdouts remained and they defied the developers. Click or scroll on to see 12 notable examples from around the world.

In order to fulfil its ambition to become the largest department store on the planet, Macy's was forced to build around a five-storey structure on Manhattan's Herald Square. After discovering Macy's was buying up the entire block, rival retailer Siegal-Cooper acquired a plot on the corner of Broadway and 34th Street in 1900 and erected the five-floor building on the site in 1903 to thwart the plans.

Siegal-Cooper had constructed what was then the world's biggest department store on Sixth Avenue in 1896 and was prepared to play dirty to keep the coveted title. Siegal-Cooper was also trying to force Macy's to relinquish its Sixth Avenue and 14th Street Location in exchange for the building. Macy's ignored the ploy and the building was sold in 1911 for a record million dollars. The spot has since been dubbed the 'Million Dollar Corner'.

Cook's house, however, was left untouched, squeezed snugly between the pair of condominium buildings. The strong-willed widow died in 1932. Her house, which has escaped the wrecking ball to this day, was sold and converted into an art gallery before being split into a number of apartments.

Back in 2006 octogenarian Seattle resident, Edith Macefield garnered folk hero status when she turned down a million-dollar offer from developers for her dinky house in the now-hip Ballard neighbourhood, which was rapidly undergoing gentrification. 

Macefield died in 2008. Interestingly, the property was bequeathed to Barry Martin, the new building's construction manager with whom she had struck up a friendship. Not long after her passing, Martin sold the house for $304,000 (£234k) and despite rumours that the property has been earmarked for demolition, it still stands, a testament to its late owner's resilience.

Despite its landmark status, the endangered church could very well have met the wrecking ball. In 1945 the Joske's of Texas department store approached the diocese and offered to purchase the building so it could knock it down and build a sprawling retail space in its place. Parishioners, who were horrified by the proposal, voted unanimously to reject the offer.

In March 2007 a court order was issued to remove the couple who courted the media and became a cause celebre. Yet the pair ignored it and stood their ground. Thanks to their stubbornness, the Wus bagged a new apartment of the same size and finally called it a day on their three-year fight the following month.

The student residence halls project went ahead and was constructed around the historic house. Enjoying the last laugh, Acker celebrated his triumph in 2011 by buying 400 helium balloons, which were tied to the chimney of the house, a homage to the movie Up.

Scottish fisherman and quarry worker Michael Forbes drew the ire of Donald Trump in 2007 when he refused to sell his home to the real estate mogul, who had plans to build a luxury golf course next to the property in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. Forbes was enticed with $578,000 (£450k) and a job on the golf course paying $64,000 (£50k) a year but declined the offer.

Infuriated by Forbes' refusal to move, Trump branded the Scotsman “a disgrace” and described his home as a slum. Trump Corporation staff even went as far as to remove a boat belonging to Forbes and fenced off parts of his land in 2010. These attempts at intimidation failed and Forbes stayed put. The saga was featured in a 2011 documentary entitled You've Been Trumped.

The Trump International Golf Links course opened in 2012. Ever defiant, Forbes hit the headlines again in 2016 when he raised the Mexican flag on his property “to show solidarity” with the Mexican people who Trump had “insulted” during his presidential campaign.

Weary from his arduous fight, Luo finally accepted $42,000 (£32k) for the property, which though considerably less than what he spent to erect it, was a marked improvement on the initial offer of $28,000 (£22k). The house was finally demolished in 2012 and Luo's case, which had gone viral around the world, was closed.

Vera Coking and her husband Raymond bought their three-storey clapboard house in Atlantic City in 1961 for $20,000 (£15k). The property served as their family home, before becoming a boarding house for a time. Then the casino developers came knocking. Gambling was transforming the coastal city and Coking's house was situated in a prime location for development, just moments from the beach and the boardwalk.

In the early 1980s, Coking rejected a million-dollar offer from Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, who was embarking on a large commercial development in the city. Seemingly not taking no for an answer, the magazine boss commenced construction of the Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel and Casino around her house, but building work halted when according to Philadelphia Magazine, Guccione couldn't obtain a gaming license and the project went bust.

A decade later Donald Trump stepped in and bought up the surrounding land for his Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. He turned his attentions to sweetening up the stubborn homeowner, whose husband had since sadly passed away. Coking told the New York Daily Times: "Once, he gave me Neil Diamond tickets. I didn't even know who Neil Diamond was."

Coking stood her ground even when things turned nasty. Demolition crews allegedly damaged the property and set fire to its roof according to her attorneys, quoted in The Washington Post. Trump petitioned the City to use the power of 'eminent domain' to condemn the property. The widow was unwavering during the legal battle and in 1998, New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled that Coking's house could not be taken away from her.

Coking stayed at her beloved clapboard house until 2010 when she moved to a retirement community in California near her family. The home was placed up for sale with the dizzying price tag of $5 million (£3.8m), but it was unable to find a buyer. It was eventually sold at auction in 2014 to investor Carl Icahn for $583,000 (£442k) and the home was promptly demolished.

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