In many cases, people get used to things being one way, and then when it changes, they get upset and feel like they are entitled to things being the way they were.

That was the case in this story when a new family moved into a yard with a beautiful backyard that led to a beach on the other side.

When they started putting up a fence around their backyard, the neighbors came over and got upset because they always walked through the yard to get to the beach. The new homeowners, however, weren’t having it and said they would not put up a gate. Now the neighbors are upset.

Read through the full story below and see if you think they handled it well.

AITAH for not letting my neighbors use my yard?

I (f26) recently bought a house with my husband. Our house is a beachfront house with an amazing yard.

This seems like a beautiful home.

The backyard is designed to basically look like a hidden oasis. It has a pool, hot tub, water fountains on the side, and a small slide all surrounded by trees and other plants.

The trees give us privacy from both houses next to us but still gives us the view of the beach. The backyard is why we bought the home, and we already spend the majority of our time being back there, even when my husband works.

The entire backside of the house is mostly glass, so it’s also what we see when we are in the house. It is definitely the focal point of our home.

What do the neighbors want?

Yesterday, we started the construction on a new fence. This fence goes around the backyard with a gate only to the beach, so you either have to go through the house to go through the beach to get to our backyard.

We didn’t think anything of it before I got a knock on my door this morning from someone who lives in the condos across the street from us. I have seen her a few times but we never really talked.

Why is she so concerned about this?

She introduced herself and then asked about what we were building in our yard. I just told her that we wanted to put up a fence before tourists start coming (this was recommended to us by our realtor).

Marie kinda looked shocked and asked if we were putting a gate on the front or anything. I said no and that we already had a landscaper come and look to get more plants put around it.

Ahh, now it makes sense.

She then asked me if I could put a gate on the front. I didn’t really understand this, so I asked her to clarify when she explained that the previous owners would let people from the condo walk through their yard to get to the beach because otherwise they have to walk 5 minutes down the street to get onto the beach where there are a lot of tourists (our street leads to private beach, so there aren’t as many people).

She said that mostly everyone in the condo started doing this over the past few years, especially people with kids (or even just letting their kids go to the beach alone). She also said that they would let people use their pool if they texted as asked.

Yes, it would be an inconvenience, but surely the neighbor understands.

I immediately told her that no one would be in my yard unless I knew them. She obviously got upset by this, and then said that basically everyone in the condos would be upset by this.

I told her that I understand why they want to use my yard and that it’s just to pass through, but I hate the idea of being in my backyard and having random people walk through.

Even from a liability standpoint, she shouldn’t let people walk through her yard.

She started getting mad at me for it and saying that I am ruining a lot of people’s way of life by blocking off this path.

She claimed that a lot of people let their kids go to the beach through this way and a lot of kids can’t walk to the popular spots (the beach is kinda quiet where we are).

The pool is an even stronger reason for wanting this fence.

I did get annoyed and told her that I don’t really care, and that I will not let people into my yard. She tried to bring up the pool, but I just told her that I wasn’t going to talk about it anymore.

This was yesterday afternoon and I’ve already seen people standing outside the condos and pointing to my house.

Change can be hard.

I even had someone run over to talk to me and ask if I was really “gating off the beach path”.

I’ve talked to both my neighbors who agree with me but my friend and sister are both saying I’m in the wrong.

AITA?

People get used to things being one way, and then they feel like they are entitled to it. These homeowners were right to shut this down.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

This commenter says they need to act fast.

A 5-minute walk isn’t a big deal.

This is a really good question.

Having a lawyer involved makes sense.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an artist who made sure to leave the walls of her home blank and boring before moving out, even though they were covered with gorgeous murals before then.

Putting up cameras is very important.

They need to get that fence up as soon as possible and make sure the neighbors know that their yard is not a walking path. It is a huge liability as well as an annoyance to have people walking through.