Mall Built Around 84-Year-Old’s House After She Refuses A Million-Dollar Offer

There are things in your life that will never be worth any amount of money. That you will never give in even if you are offered a million dollars for it. That’s exactly how this woman valued her home which is why the mall had no other choice but to build their building around her home.

Developers offered Edith Macefield a million dollars for them to purchase her house and lot and. They would need to demolish her home and build a mall. But Edith was firm with her ander a big “NO!”

You see, this is her 100-year-old home in Ballard, Washington. She lived her life the way she saw fit and no matter how big the offer is from the developer, she’s not willing to give in just like that. .

Even when she was young, Edith already showed that she has determination in anything that she puts her mind into. When she was 16 years old, Edith told her mother that she was going to college but the truth is, she secretly joined the army which brought her to England. However, they learned that she was underage so she got kicked out of the army.

Still, she decided to stay in England and end up taking in war orphans. She would even tour with the Royal Army’s marching band. One time she also convinced some of her friends that she was working as a spy. Then in 1952, Edith moved to Ballard, Seattle.

She has been living in this home for a very long time. And in 2007, she was offered to sell her home. She and the developers have been in a standoff situation since then. She was determined to keep her house. In the end, the developers had no choice but to build a massive office and retail complex around her home. Her house and lot was the only property left that the developers haven’t bought. In fact, they have purchased all of 46th street except for Edith’s house.

Edith and her 100-year-old home became a local symbol for anti-development and for having a “fiercely independent spirit.” In fact in 2013, a ‘Macefield Music Festival’ was named after her in honor of “holding onto things that are important to you.”

When Edith passeds away in 2008, she left her beloved home to a friend and construction superintendent Barry Martin. Then in 2009. Martin sold the property but it went into foreclosure and was put on the auction block and sadly, it didn’t get any bids.

Reports say that the house was scheduled to be demolished. There were also several attempts by the community to save the home and keep it as a landmark. The efforts to raise money to save the house did not work.

And in 2018, the developers announced that they would keep the house as a part of their development. The house is not only a great background for Instagram pictures, but people can also shop in here too. The house itself and the story behind its existence continues to bring more tourists into the community.

The Macefield house continues to be a testament to freedom, of how Edith Macefield stood her ground regardless of the difficulties that came her way because of her persistence.