I apparently had a free viewing available. They lived in the Boston area; his father had taken off. and his mother never followed up on having the cabin and playhouse delivered. tl;dr, they never developed or really used the land much, and when the author's father was facing cancer and they were scared of being wiped out with nursing home expenses, he signed it over to his daughters and they apparently sold it for a pleasant amount to cover both repairs to their parents' home and also expenses in their own lives.