RIP Edith Macefield, Old Ballard Hero

Edith Macefield's home, not bowing to big development

The late Edith Macefield's home, courtesy of Seattlest Flickr user mary land

Everyone has a price, they say. But it's always nice to see when people have more integrity than to let their property go to some silly development project. That's why we thought Edith Macefield, of Ballard, was such a swell lady. She refused to take the million-dollar buyout Trader Joe's tried to give her, so that they could take over her property and put up a giant grocery store. Of course, instead, they just built around her. But, she kept her home, her land, and her integrity. She passed away on Sunday at 86 years old.

The Times called her a relic of old Ballard. "Forget that frivolous Ballard Denny's," they said. "It didn't tell Ballard's story, old or new. Edith's house is the real Ballard landmark."

MyBallard.com has a full eulogy and photos from Macefield's hold-out:

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 P-I. "I liked the old Ballard. The new one—you can have it."

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By Kim Ruehl in News on June 18, 2008 2:00 PM

Comments [rss]

ruffhauser

True enough. Who knows how we would feel at that point in our lives?

Even if she would have cashed in, she couldn't have "taken it with her".

I just have this internal programming that doesn't like "inefficiencies" and I just think this could have worked out better for all the parties, financially speaking.

Troy Morris

I agree with Katelyn. It's not so much being a "hero" as she wanted her house and valued that bit of her stability more than a million dollars.

She knew what she wanted, she got what she wanted, and she kept it. That to me is a good spirit to have. She probably just didn't say "NO!" four times. She probably, maybe, perhaps, thought about it and decided the million dollars isn't enough to make her pack up and move out of her lifelong house.

Where's the shame in that?

Katelyn

The whole ordeal makes me think of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. I don't think Ms. Macefield was necessarily a "hero," but there's something so appealingly stubborn and romantic about her refusal to sell... it's a great story.

LarryB

I think it's a romantic notion that she was able to stay in her home, but the reality is that she spent her final days surrounded by a raucous construction site - an outcome she freely chose. I can understand her desire not to move and not to sell, but ultimately it was a meaningless gesture.

We can't control everything that happens around us - the best we can do is react to the circumstances, shape what we can and make the best of it.

I think her home would make a fine location for a museum of NIMBYism.

Kim Ruehl

I don't know--I kind of think she wasn't trying to be a hero, she was just trying to keep her home. After eight decades on this planet, the fact that she had to stand up to development in order to just die in peace in her own home is the silly part. I don't know that I'd want to give up my lifelong home for a condo with a garden, either.

I definitely see the point that she could've gone out swinging by donating the million bucks to some noble charity, but I also think it's pretty cool that she would have rather just had her home, her stuff, her life the way she was used to it.

BigGreenFrank

Yeah, I'm a little sick of hero treatment for this lady too. It's a cute story to tell (and to sell papers) and I appreciate her principles and her strength in character, but what's the real story here?

I mean, how are you are hero for stubbornly turning down three times (four times?) what anyone else would pay for a property.

That's a million dollars that can go to a worthy personal cause, your family (although I guess she didn't have any), or any number of great things that would have made an impact in this world.

ruffhauser

Troy is right, and thats the real shame of this: these bastards are now going to get the property for nothing. After all, she may have lived through WWII, and I'm sure that's what it sounded like outside during all that construction, but what other young couple/family would subject themselves to that?

Sometimes you really can't fight "City Hall", as that pack of thieves in cahoots with Mayor McCheese were eventually going to get her house, but I think she could have really put the screws to the developers and at least made them pay retail for the property.

If she didn't want the money, donate it to charity or a school/cause/church or something.

Troy Morris

I'm sure they're not heartless. Ruff is right, but the point is: she didn't want the money, she didn't want to move, so she didn't take the deal.

I think even the developers are probably happy about it. Perhaps they should buy the house and turn it into a Ballard Museum and get themselves a little bit of PR Sunshine from the whole deal.

ruffhauser

That "silly development project" will provide jobs for more people and contribute tax money for city services.

We can romanticize this story all day, but before we get all emo, this block of the city was a trash pit covered with graffiti, drug deals and homeless car-camps. In other words, ripe for economic redevelopment.

Also, the "heartless" developers offered her a penthouse condo with a garden for her in the new building.