My Ballard

There’s a follow-up on Edith Macefield’s will and the future plans for her home, which is surrounded by the Trader Joe’s construction project on 46th St. As suspected, Edith left construction superintendent Barry Martin in charge of her estate. The Seattle PI reports:

As to the house, Martin said its future remains unknown. “There wasn’t anything spelled out to save it for posterity,” Martin said. “As a matter of fact, she just wanted to keep the house long enough to finish her use of it.”

Some have suggested saving the home in Edith’s memory, but it appears from Martin’s comments that it’s unlikely. As for the will, it’s a living trust Edith created 15 years ago, which means the details will remain under wraps. Martin says it will take some time to get Edith’s affairs in order. Perhaps even longer than the scheduled completion of the contruction project, scheduled for October. (Thanks all for the link!)

My Ballard reader Josh sent us an email about the upcoming Pixar movie “Up” which seems to loosely mirror the Edith Macefield story.

Well, at least in the beginning. Up is about a 78-year-old man who feels trapped in his home as it’s surrounded by the big city. That is, until an 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell gives him a new lease on life, and they manage to tie a bunch a balloons to the house and float away to big adventures.

The unspoken hero in the Edith Macefield story appears to be Barry Martin, the senior superintendent for Ledcor Construction, which is building the development around Edith’s home. Martin and Macefield struck up a friendship over the last year, and he “made sure she had food, ran to get groceries for her, picked up prescriptions, cooked her dinner,” reports the PI. In her last days battling pancreatic cancer, he made sure she was comfortable. And here’s the shocker: one of Ledcor’s managers told Times columnist Danny Westneat that he believes Edith may have left her property to Martin. It’s unclear if Edith left a will, and when asked, Martin said he doesn’t want to talk about it. But he did say that Edith made it clear she did not want a funeral or even flowers, but people can donate if they like to the Humane Society.

Meanwhile, Ledcor Construction said it designed the structure to absorb the property if it became available. “Spots have been left so steel beams could be inserted into the concrete to complete the upper floor, assuming Edith’s home is sold and torn down,” explains Westneat in his column.

Yesterday: Edith Macefield passes away at 86 years old

Ballard’s most famous hold-out, Edith Macefield passed away on Sunday of natural causes, according to the medical examiner’s office. My Ballard has received a few emails in the last couple of weeks saying that ambulances have been seen coming and going from her home. She was 86 years old.

Edith lived in the same house on NW 46th St. for the last 56 years. She made national news in 2006 when she refused to sell her home for $1 million to developers. Construction crews then proceeded to build the development around her. “I went through World War II, the noise doesn’t bother me,” Macefield told the Seattle PI. “I liked the old Ballard. The new one — you can have it.” Edith’s refusal drew many supporters, especially Ballard residents worried about the changes new development is bringing to the neighborhood. “I will always think of the true Ballard spirit when I see this lady’s house,” wrote Heidi on My Ballard earlier this year. “She is Ballard,” wrote another supporter. Edith, we never met you, but you will be missed.

Macefield has no known surviving family, so we’ll have to wait and see what will happen next with her property and house.

Update: The local media is now on the story. We drove by Edith’s house at 5 p.m. and discovered TV crews from KIRO and KOMO out front. A newspaper photographer with a ladder was trying to get the best shots of the house. Take a look at the Seattle PI’s story and Seattle Times’ story.

Construction workers have added the final story on the LA Fitness and Trader Joe’s, towering high over Edith Macefield’s house.

Here’s the photo from a few months ago.

Here’s what a sunny Wednesday morning looks like at Edith Macefield’s house:

Oh wait, here’s her house:

What rounds out this cheery picture is the ear-piercing yammering of a jackhammer somewhere inside the five-story building being constructed around her house. You’ll remember she turned down $1 million to move.

I just noticed this comment on last week’s post about Edith Macefield, the elderly Ballard woman who refused to sell her home to developers. It was left by a man named Rudy who says he’s lived in Ballard for 6 decades. “They want my house too and the lovely corner 1/4 acre lot it sits on,” he writes. “They won’t get it, not from me nor the family that I have willed it to. Edith is not the only one fighting to keep Ballard’s history.”

While the recent stories of the Denny’s, Sunset Bowl and Ballard’s overall transformation having been grabbing headlines (even in the LA Times this weekend), let’s not forget about Edith Macefield. Remember, she’s the 86-year-old Ballard woman who made national news when she turned down $1 million to sell her home to developers. So we decided to stop by NW 46 St. and see how the construction project is going.

Yep, they’re building the five-story building around her house, as they said they would. And workers still have a few more stories to go.

Here’s the side view. You can’t even see Macefield’s house. Her blue car is parked in between the Honey Buckets and orange cones. And right across the street is a land use sign that says a four-story office building will be under construction soon (more info on that project here). No matter where you come down in this debate, you have to admit this is a little sad.

Heidi adds in comments: “I will always think of the true Ballard spirit when I see this lady’s house. I hope the future business partners will think twice before negotiating with these developers… heartless.”

Martha adds in comments: “Why doesn’t she do like the children’s book and move the entire house? Her 1 million dollar offer would pay for the move and a really nice piece of land!”