A letter to the future buried in a wall and untouched in a Rozelle home for more than 20 years has been discovered by tradesmen.
"Hello whoever you are," the letter reads. "This letter was put into this stud wall on Easter Saturday, 15th April, 1995. It is pissing down and so a good day to be renovating."Â
Typed using Word for Windows V5.0 on a 486 laptop by a 39-year-old Greg Wilkinson, who was building his home in the hope it would be a time capsule and 'not re-opened for 50-80 years unless developers get hold of the street of homes and demolish the lot before then'.
The letter was uncovered by a group of tradesmen this month, 22Â years after being sealed into the wall.Â
"I was sent to the house in Rozelle for a kitchen renovation, which later also added to a full bathroom renovation because of Greg's lack of water proofing," Sasha Ilic, one of the tradesmen said. "The wall lining came off and a labourer found the letter hidden inside the bathroom stud wall. He read it and passed it around.
"When I saw the letter and read it, I thought it was pretty cool - I've only every come across old newspapers hidden in walls. I wasn't sure it was real until I saw the photo."
Accompanied by the letter was a photo of Greg and and his new bride, Roslyn Green, on their wedding day.
Mr Ilic posted the find on social media  to give others ideas of doing the same and in the hope of finding Greg.Â
Mr Wilkinson, who is currently on holidays sailing around Croatia, has been found.
"At first when I saw the letter up on Facebook I felt a little violated... Then having thought about it and with the predictions it really highlighted the progress of the internet in 22 years and, without it, how would they ever have found me?" the now 61-year-old said.
"I received a Facebook messenger request and a very nice guy asked if I was the right guy and pointed me to it.... and there it was. It almost brought me to tears."
In the letter, Mr Wilkinson mentioned his wife Roslyn predicted the capsule would be uncovered in the year 2020 but, disagreeing, he wrote 'I built the wall and I reckon closer to 2060'.
"I wanted it to stay hidden a lot longer but so happy it was here and was around to see it. My beautiful Ros almost picked the time it would be revealed."
Greg and Roslyn bought the uninhabitable house in 1987 for just $170,000. During that time, Mr Wilkinson was building his own company while renovating the home. He came across the idea of leaving a time capsule while living in London.
"I renovated a few places in London and they almost always had old newspapers under the old lino. I found them fascinating and hatched the plan to do it properly when I next renovated."
In August 1995, the pair welcomed a baby boy named Mark, but just two years later Roslyn was taken away by breast cancer.
"I feel quite emotional having seen it (the letter). All that water under the bridge for me and the world. My beautiful Ros looking back at me from the past."
In the letter, Mr Wilkinson made a list of predictions, including families returning back to one parent working and the other looking after the kids; Islam becoming the next ideological problem plunging large parts of the globe into a "holy war",' and China gearing up as a world economic super power.
"I hope I haven't made the future look too bleak," the letter said.
"Well, I must look like a smart arse because they are fairly accurate but I am a believer in balance," Mr Wilkinson said.Â
The letter also listed a loaf of bread cost $2.25 in 1995, pint of milk was $1.25, a case of Carlton Cold beer would set you back $24.95 and Sunday's paper was $1.20.
When asked what he wanted to happen to the letter, he said: "The Facebookers reckon he (the person who found it) should sign it, include his photo and put it back.... I'm just happy for him. Tell him I also left a copy of that day's SMH and nearly left a bottle of wine, but I drank it."
Mr Ilic said: "A bottle of wine would have been nice."
The Terry Street property was sold 18 months ago for $1,380,000. Mr Wilkinson and his family moved to a property in the neighbouring suburb of Balmain.Â
Mr Wilkinson told the Herald he was looking forward to returning home and having a beer with the tradesmen who found the letter.Â
