Archive · 8 Aug 2026
106-year-old Seattle house blocked redevelopment despite $1 million offer
A long time ago, a lady named Edith lived in a small white house in Seattle.
The city was changing fast, and builders wanted to tear down her house to put up shops and offices.
They even offered her one million dollars to leave.
But Edith said no because her house was full of memories, like where she cared for her mother.
The builders decided not to fight her.
Instead, they built their big building all around her little house.
A friendly man named Barry, who worked on the construction, helped Edith with errands and they became good friends.
Edith later gave her things to Barry in her will.
Edith passed away in 2008 when she was 86 years old.
Her house is still there, squeezed between the big buildings, and many people say her story is like the movie 'Up', though the movie makers say they did not copy her story.
In 2006, Edith Macefield, then 84, reportedly refused a $1 million buyout offer for her century-old home in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.
Developers redesigned the Ballard Blocks project so the five-storey retail and office complex surrounds the 1900-built house on three sides.
Macefield formed an unlikely friendship with Barry Martin, the construction superintendent, who checked on her and ran errands.
Macefield named Martin the beneficiary of her estate; she died in June 2008 at age 86.
The story drew comparisons to Pixar's Up, though Pixar has said the film was not inspired by Macefield's life.
- Who
- Edith Macefield, an 84-year-old Seattle homeowner, and Barry Martin, the superintendent of the Ballard Blocks construction project.
- What
- Macefield refused a reported $1 million buyout offer, prompting developers to build the Ballard Blocks complex around her 1900-built house instead of demolishing it.
- When
- From 2006, when she declined the offer, through construction until Macefield's death in June 2008.
- Where
- The Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.
- Why
- Macefield was unwilling to leave a house filled with decades of memories, including caring for her late mother there.
- Homeowner
- Edith Macefield
- Age when offer refused
- 84
- Reported buyout offer
- About $1 million
- House construction year
- 1900
- Development project
- Ballard Blocks
- Complex type
- Five-storey retail and office complex
- Macefield's death
- June 2008, at age 86
- Estate beneficiary
- Barry Martin