This story doesn't strike me as odd. I come from a place way out in the country where people have money . . . but don't spend it. Growing up, I knew LOTS of friends who lived in a house originally built by their great-grandparents . . . then their grandparents added indoor plumbing . . . and their parents added a family room and an extra bedroom. In fact, we were second-generation family living in our house.
LOTS of these people lived frugal lives in small houses on the old farms, usually multi-generational families. And when they died, they left big bucks. Not that their children would spend it! And everyone's prized possession is his or her land -- when I was a kid, no one would sell an inch of land to anyone outside the family.
That mindset is changing a bit as the older generations have died off, and with the sale of some family farms, neighborhoods of new houses are being built. Professionals who want to live in the country are moving into that quiet area -- and since we're just a little over an hour from "the big city", it's very possible for them to tele-commute and go into the city just occasionally.
But, yeah, I know people who've lived like this. But not without family ties. I'm thinking this guy must've been a little OCD -- perhaps even a hoarder. You can hoard money, you know. It sounds like he may've valued his money for itself, not for its buying power or security.