The Little House in Ballard is now empty.

June 17, 2008 5:29 PM

Follow up to y2karl's post about the stubbornest old lady in Ballard (Seattle).

I have thought about this lady almost every day, passing by that house, always with the blue car parked outside and the TV glowing inside. Here's a photo of assorted MeFites outside her house at a recent meetup.

posted by Slarty Bartfast to MetaFilter-related at 5:29 PM (43 comments total)

Oh wow. I wonder if she left the house to someone in her will?
posted by jessamyn at 5:32 PM on June 17

bets on the family turning it into a tiny park or something? hopefully they will respect her wishes and not sell out to the developer.
posted by killy willy at 5:40 PM on June 17 [1 favorite]

It sounded like she just wanted to finish out her life on the property. Hopefully her heirs will get a decent price for it.
posted by tkolar at 5:44 PM on June 17

Dear Seattle Times : "Enlarge" means to "make bigger."
posted by Dave Faris at 5:49 PM on June 17 [5 favorites]

Thanks for the update, Slarty. I would have otherwise missed this story. Weirdly, I'm wearing the same green Carhartt shirt today as I was when your photo was taken...

Yeah, I thought about that old lady too. My father lives alone back in Montana, in the house I grew up in, and he's about the same age. Thankfully his house is not bounded on three sides by vertical concrete walls. I must go visit him this summer. My secret goal is to get him the Mansfield Library and show him teh miracle of teh Internets.

Whatever happens next, Edith Macefield's little house, or the land it sits on, will become some sort of Seattle folk photo opportunity.

Obligatory "."
posted by Tube at 5:58 PM on June 17

Oh, by the way, let's not turn this into another obit thread where everyone has to get in their criticism of the little old lady from Ballard's lasting cultural impact. Yes, some of her work was controversial but most of us would like to show our respect for the dead.

.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 5:59 PM on June 17

Apparently, she has no living direct relatives.

Hope she has a good will, or else it's about to get reeeeal interesting.
posted by dw at 6:37 PM on June 17

Fuck. Good luck Ms. Macefield, whereever you are. Seattle is better for the likes of you.

And if someone wants to put their money where my mouth is, I'm happy to donate if I don't get laid off on thursday. Tearing the house down and erecting either an enormous middle finger or a community garden would suit.
posted by stet at 7:00 PM on June 17 [1 favorite]

.
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 7:05 PM on June 17

Oh, that poor thing. What ovaries. I am so proud of you, Mrs. Macefield! RIP, sincerely.
posted by tristeza at 7:17 PM on June 17

I love the enormous middle finger idea. It should preferably be done in the same style as the Fremont Troll with his delightfully loooonnnnggg fingers.
posted by HotToddy at 8:11 PM on June 17

.
posted by hecho de la basura at 8:34 PM on June 17

I could get behind a giant middle finger. The Ballard Bird.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:03 PM on June 17

"Her daily life was drowned out by the sound of construction."


That made me really sad. A Ballard Bird indeed.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:41 PM on June 17 [1 favorite]

.
posted by loiseau at 10:27 PM on June 17

.

Now, Olsen's Scandinavian Foods is one of the only old-time relics left.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:59 PM on June 17

Thirding the bird.

.
posted by owhydididoit at 12:26 AM on June 18

The Finger
posted by jontyjago at 1:30 AM on June 18

I think that a Rastafarian squatter / art community moving in would be a better lasting tribute than a vulgar hand gesture.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:58 AM on June 18 [1 favorite]

Dear Seattle Times : "Enlarge" means to "make bigger."

*cancels products ordered from email spam*
posted by terrapin at 3:59 AM on June 18

See also the Man Who Lives In The Middle Of The M62 - just outside Manchester.
posted by Jofus at 5:22 AM on June 18

Another Seattle Times column. Enlarge seems to work this time...
posted by Tube at 5:54 AM on June 18

There's a similar site in DC.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:07 AM on June 18

If there were ghosts, that development wouldn't deserve a ghost like Edith Macefield's.
posted by pracowity at 6:14 AM on June 18

There's a similar site in DC.

There's more than one...but this one's away from the street and kind of a weirder story.
posted by kittyprecious at 7:44 AM on June 18 [1 favorite]

For Sale:

One bedroom house, One bath, Shopping and exercise facilities "nearby"
posted by quin at 8:10 AM on June 18

I thought they could force people out of their homes (but reimbursing them financially for the move/house cost/etc) if it was for the good of the community/state/country or whatever. Eminent domain or something I thought it was called?
posted by Grither at 8:19 AM on June 18

Bugs Bunny, Homeless Hare
posted by Dave Faris at 8:21 AM on June 18

I thought they could force people out of their homes (but reimbursing them financially for the move/house cost/etc) if it was for the good of the community/state/country or whatever developers.

FTFY.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:28 AM on June 18

Hey stet, if you do get laid off on thursday, we should go to trader vic's for happy hour, since we never got around to grabbing lunch and we work across the skybridge from each other in bellevue.
posted by mrzarquon at 9:21 AM on June 18

Also, I hope the space gets turned into a community space, anarchistic commune, or something in between.

Looking at the construction, I can't tell if they anticipated tearing down the walls and expanding over the area once it was available or not.

Atleast Mike's Chili Parlor still stands.

and

.
posted by mrzarquon at 9:23 AM on June 18

I think they should turn it into a medical marijuana grow house and put an old Ford pick up with a volunteer fireman sticker on the bumper up on blocks out in front of it.
posted by y2karl at 11:39 AM on June 18

I'd like to call attention to kittyprecious' link--definitely a weirder story.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:27 PM on June 18

I can't tell if they anticipated tearing down the walls and expanding...

They did. At least, they did according to various news stories on this topic.
posted by aramaic at 12:36 PM on June 18

I'd like to call attention to kittyprecious' link--definitely a weirder story.

Whoa. That is a weird story. Although it looks like the Robinson brothers eventually gave in.
posted by dersins at 2:24 PM on June 18

Great story. There's a similar thing in Amsterdam, by the way.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:56 PM on June 18

I hope this stays a cute story about valuing more than just money. I'd hate for them to find five footless corpses buried in her yard.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:09 PM on June 18

Six.
posted by dersins at 4:13 PM on June 18

Although it looks like the Robinson brothers eventually gave in.

Ah, I didn't know about that part. But a friend of mine lives in the (smaller) building next to The Jefferson at Logan Circle (formerly the construction site) and says that, thanks to the Robinsons' demand for access to their plot, his windows face an open alley instead of The Jefferson's wall.
posted by kittyprecious at 8:28 AM on June 19

"Voter described how 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. She has no known relatives, but
Voter said he believed she had left her property to Ledcor's senior
construction superintendent, who had been taking care of her."

So... Ledcor built around her, but always planned to absorb her property. Then a Ledcor employee starts "taking care of her." (Which reminds me of the Samuel L. Jackson line in Pulp Fiction -- "You mean take care of her, or take CARE of her?") Then, sadly, she passes on. And now that she's passed on, Ledcor says, "Oh, yeah, she wanted us to have that land"?

Maybe there's a sweet story in here about a senior construction superintendent who formed an unlikely friendship with a plucky old dame. Real Oprah material. That would be nice, but I kind of doubt it.

Rest in peace, Edith, you plucky old dame.
posted by cirocco at 1:58 PM on June 19

I just posted pictures of the makeshift memorial in front of her house on my terrible blog.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:06 PM on June 19

Fucksticks
posted by Artw at 1:45 PM on June 24

I remember that there is a several acres o fa single property in Virginia held by a single family and is worth quite a lot and originates from the colonial period. They are refusing to sell though worth several million. For the life of me I cannot recall the name of the house/property nor family.
posted by jadepearl at 2:23 PM on June 24