The story of Edith Macefield's house was the inspiration behind Disney's hit movie Up, and if you were a big fan, then you could buy yourself the ultimate piece of merchandise: the house itself.
In 2006, a construction project promised to build a new shopping centre in Ballard, Seattle, which meant that a number of houses would need to be demolished to make way for the building. Despite all her neighbours selling up and moving away, Edith Macefield turned down a number of offers from the construction company to leave, eventually refusing a final offer of $1,000,000 to let them buy her house.
Macefield's story was one that made great headlines for the media, who saw it as a David vs. Goliath battle against the huge businesses of corporate America, and she never gave in, despite overwhelming pressure. In 2008, Macefield past away and left the house to Barry Martin, the project superintendent of the construction project. The two ended up becoming great friends after he took it upon himself to check in on her regularly, as she was trapped in the middle of the construction site.
The rather excellent 99% Invisible podcast covers this story in some detail, and gives an insight into the touching story of how Edith and Martin became so close, and he decided that he wanted to turn it into a memorial of sorts to Martin. Remodeling began on the house, but was cut short after the house went up for auction.
The property is now going to go on the market again, after it failed to sell for $170,000 in March of this year, as a result of the fact that any prospective buyer would have to pay $300,000 in taxes on it. That tax has now been waived, and the property has been listed again to be sold to the highest bidder. If you fancy having a piece of property that doubles as a movie souvenir and you have a spare $170,000 (€156,648), then you might want to get bidding...
Via The Mind Unleashed. Main pic via Disney/Pixar
