Comments on: The Little House in Ballard is now empty.

The Little House in Ballard is now empty.

Slarty Bartfast — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:29:31 -0800

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.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:32:21 -0800

Oh wow. I wonder if she left the house to someone in her will?

By: killy willy

killy willy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:40:02 -0800

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.

By: tkolar

tkolar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:44:58 -0800

It sounded like she just wanted to finish out her life on the property. Hopefully her heirs will get a decent price for it.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:49:43 -0800

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

By: Tube

Tube — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:58:18 -0800

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 "."

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:59:56 -0800

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.

.

By: dw

dw — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:37:27 -0800

Apparently, she has no living direct relatives.

Hope she has a good will, or else it's about to get reeeeal interesting.

By: stet

stet — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:00:57 -0800

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.

By: [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST]

[NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:05:07 -0800

By: tristeza

tristeza — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:17:55 -0800

Oh, that poor thing. What ovaries. I am so proud of you, Mrs. Macefield! RIP, sincerely.

By: HotToddy

HotToddy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:11:00 -0800

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.

By: hecho de la basura

hecho de la basura — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:34:04 -0800

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:03:35 -0800

I could get behind a giant middle finger. The Ballard Bird.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:41:05 -0800

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

That made me really sad. A Ballard Bird indeed.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:27:09 -0800

By: spinifex23

spinifex23 — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:59:02 -0800

.

Now, Olsen's Scandinavian Foods is one of the only old-time relics left.

By: owhydididoit

owhydididoit — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:26:52 -0800

Thirding the bird.

.

By: jontyjago

jontyjago — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:30:51 -0800

The Finger

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:58:27 -0800

I think that a Rastafarian squatter / art community moving in would be a better lasting tribute than a vulgar hand gesture.

By: terrapin

terrapin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:59:52 -0800

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

*cancels products ordered from email spam*

By: Jofus

Jofus — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:22:22 -0800

See also the Man Who Lives In The Middle Of The M62 - just outside Manchester.

By: Tube

Tube — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:54:59 -0800

Another Seattle Times column. Enlarge seems to work this time...

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:07:11 -0800

There's a similar site in DC.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:14:55 -0800

If there were ghosts, that development wouldn't deserve a ghost like Edith Macefield's.

By: kittyprecious

kittyprecious — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:44:41 -0800

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.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:10:30 -0800

For Sale:



One bedroom house, One bath, Shopping and exercise facilities "nearby"

By: Grither

Grither — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:19:22 -0800

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?

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:21:48 -0800

Bugs Bunny, Homeless Hare

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:28:18 -0800

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.

By: mrzarquon

mrzarquon — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:21:09 -0800

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.

By: mrzarquon

mrzarquon — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:23:45 -0800

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

.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:39:01 -0800

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.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:27:20 -0800

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

By: aramaic

aramaic — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:36:52 -0800

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.

By: dersins

dersins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:24:45 -0800

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.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:56:17 -0800

Great story. There's a similar thing in Amsterdam, by the way.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:09:36 -0800

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.

By: dersins

dersins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:13:37 -0800

Six.

By: kittyprecious

kittyprecious — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:28:35 -0800

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.

By: cirocco

cirocco — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:58:12 -0800

"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.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:06:02 -0800

I just posted pictures of the makeshift memorial in front of her house on my terrible blog.

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:45:15 -0800

Fucksticks

By: jadepearl

jadepearl — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:23:24 -0800

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.