Kind homeowners allow villagers to go through their property for access to main road, only to consider closing their gate when residents start to overstep: ‘Locals are picking oranges from the trees’

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Feb 5, 2026 10:00 AM EST

It would have been so much better if it were the road not taken…

It's safe to assume that most property owners have no interest in having complete strangers wandering around their private grounds. In fact, most owners would do just about anything to prevent others from finding themselves somewhere they shouldn't be. That is why we have gates, fences, and 'No Trespassing' warning signs. It is all to ensure someone's private property remains, well, private.

The owners in the story below, however, had a reason why they allowed strangers into their private grounds. In a small village, poor planning led to the only road out being through the private property of two homeowners. Every other lane became blocked for pedestrians and cars.

Luckily for the villagers, these property owners understood the problem and agreed to let residents pass through their grounds in order to get to the main road that leads out of the village. They wanted to help their fellow villagers and trusted that everyone would respect the road they walked on and not overstay their welcome. 

Unfortunately, the homeowners were wrong. It wasn't long before people started to overstep; they strayed off the main path to the village's exit, started picking oranges and lemons from the trees on the property, and even walked around the property like it was a public park. These kind homeowners were doing something nice for the village, and people decided to use it to make a hike out of it, and shove their noses where they do not belong.

This led the homeowners' family to advise the kind couple to close their gates to the public, in fear that people would take their kindness too far and attempt to enter their home. The owners, however, insist on keeping their gates open so they can still help those who need a safe pathway out of the village.

Which side are you on? Should the homeowners sacrifice their privacy for the sake of the villagers' comfort, or should they draw a line since it has become apparent that people are taking advantage of their kindness? Keep scrolling to read the full story to decide.

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  • a mature farmer with a cap working in orchard at sunset
    via Getty Images

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • My in-laws' private property is currently the only way out of our village so of course people are overstepping

    Due to a natural event followed by man-made stupidity the only road in and out of our little village is currently blocked to cars and pedestrians.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • My in-laws have very kindly left their front door open for the whole weekend to allow the people who live here to go through their garden and then through their wilder lands to access a road and the outside world.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • This is not an easy hike but it's literally our only option and one my in-laws immediately offered up because they're nice people.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • Asides from all the "wow, I never knew this existed" comments (why would you, it's private land?) so far we've had locals picking their orange and lemon trees and a woman who invited her daughter to come walk with her around the rest of the land that isn't on the direct path to get to the village.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • The absolute audacity of people to take this crisis as a chance to be nosey. It feels like only a matter of time before we find people poking around inside the house too (my in-laws have locked all the doors they can but they live in a very impressive building so it really feels inevitable).
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • HumaDracobane I would close that gate. If people doesnt know how to behave towards private property is their fault, not yours.
    via HumaDracobane
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply Honestly I feel the same way but it's literally the only lifeline so they won't, they're much better people than me.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • d4rkdesiire Your in-laws are literally the protagonists of a disaster movie while the rest of the village acts like they found a new park on Yelp. It is wild how quickly gratitude turns into a sense of
    via d4rkdesiire
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply That's a really on point description honestly
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • Private Property sign on a gate
    via plasticsteak1

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Majestic-Window-318 Would signs asking people to stay on the path work? I imagine not, but at least then no one can legitimately claim to have misunderstood.
    via Majestic-Window-318
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply It's probably a good idea. We're not in the US and I'm not native to here so I'm not really sure about liability laws but when I tell you their land is not safe I'm not exaggerating. Right now priorities are to try and get other access to the garden so that they can close the house. while the council look into getting stairs attached to their garden so we can also close up the wild lands. Everything just moves slowly.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • Forward-Procedure-15 Why would you start picking someone's fruit trees without even asking for permission.
    via Forward-Procedure-15
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply Right? They actually did it in front of my mother-in-law as well and were remarking about how amazing their haul was until someone judged them and pointed out that they owner was right there. They at least had the good sense to look embarrassed and offer to give them back to my mother-in-law.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • Few-Idea5125 Then they literally need to fix that problem to get out of that village instead of looking for other ways to
    via Few-Idea5125
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply Things move slowly but the local government are on it, just certainly won't do anything until Monday because weekends are sacred I guess
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • Majestic-Window-318 Oh my god... they are at considerable risk from crazy or just dishonest people. What type of housing is it that there's no possible way around without selling through the house?
    via Majestic-Window-318
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply They're hoping the neighbour will open up their garden which will give access to their own without needing to keep the house open. But as things currently stand, the official plan to regain pedestrian access relies solely on their garden.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • Majestic-Window-318 Wait... are people actually walking through the house itself? You said "front door," but I assumed, and I think others did as well, that you meant front gate. Is this like an open concept dwelling with a central garden and several doors off it? If so, then put up the signs immediately, don't wait! If gate is what you meant, you should probably still do so.
    via Majestic-Window-318
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply No literally walking through the front door to get to the back garden, at which point they walk through that and another gate to get to the wild part which then leads to the closest accessible road.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • SurpriseEast3924 I want to know about this "a natural event followed by man- made stupidity", but I think the story may inadvertently dox so we won't get it.
    via SurpriseEast3924
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply Yeah I probably have too many identifying markers already over my profile if I'm honest. In a nutshell the efforts made to fix a very small problem have exponentially made it worse.
    via aLouminumfalcon
  • 1amNOTmyself YouSee I'm sorry people are taking advantage like that. You're in-laws are doing the human thing, unfortunately, the humans are doing an unlawful thing. If they were to close it, do you think that the construction or whatever needs to be done would be done faster? If those people had to complain that they could not get out of their property and it forced law officials to do something about it? It's so hard to reverse a gesture once it's already been given. Like they're not acknowled
    via 1amNOTmyselfYouSee
  • aLouminumfalcon Original Poster's Reply Honestly no, works are going to take as long as they're going to take. My father-in-law did threaten to close the gate on Friday to get them to sort it out then (already 24 hours after the disaster) and the best we got in response was "they'll start looking at a solution on Monday". One of the two solutions will still use their garden but at least allow them to block off the really unsafe section. My in-laws won't take away the only access path just becaus
    via aLouminumfalcon

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villager neighbors road private homeowner residents in laws entitled property private property gate entitled people
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