Edith Macefield’s Ballard home goes up for auction, but nobody bids

“Anyone interested in the Reach Returns or Edith Macefield house? Please come forward to qualify!” An auctioneer boomed to a crowd gathered outside the King County Administration Building Friday morning as a small Ballard home, once owned by the late 86-year-old Edith Macefield, was set to be auctioned off.

“I’d like to qualify for this property today,” said Darin Silva, handing the auctioneer his paperwork. “I’ve got great plans for this thing. We’re going to do a little marijuana operation. We’re going to call it Sky High.” The crowd laughed.

Joining Silva were a few foreclosure investment groups and realtors and a guy who flew up from Los Angeles, who wants to turn the home into an office for his record label, Microhits.

Edith Macefield and her 108-year-old house made national headlines in 2006 when she refused to sell it to developers who offered her a million dollars for the property. They had no choice but to build their huge shopping center, The Ballard Blocks, around her.

About 20 people have gotten a tattoo of the house, a symbol of standing up for what you believe in.

When Edith passed away in 2008 she left the home to her caretaker who, at her request, sold it to the highest bidder, a real estate entrepreneur named Greg Pinneo. Pinneo has since stripped the house, leaving it to look like an abandoned shack, filed for bankruptcy and the home was foreclosed upon. Hence, Friday’s auction.

“I now open the bidding at $216,356.70!” the auctioneer shouted.

But none of five qualified, interested parties bid. Going once, going twice, going three times; the property went back to the bank and Capture Realty’s Adam Mickelson, who was there to bid, explained why:

“So, essentially what just happened was, that was a second deed of trust that was selling and so the minimum bid was $216,000. Anyone who bid on that property would have to assume the first deed of trust as well, which was another $300,000. So, essentially you would be buying that property today for over $500,000. In the current condition and the circumstances, it’s not worth it.”

So now what? Rob Thornton with Better Properties Northwest explained.

“That property can show up on auction weeks, months from now on auction.com or other websites. Or an REO broker can pick it up later on and sell it for retail.”

Ballard’s Michael Stephens, who has a Macefield tattoo on her arm, actually thinks this is a relief. It will give community members time to raise some money to buy the property.

“I think that there’s a way for some other people in our community to potentially get a deal going to get the house back. I know that some folks are talking about that right now so I guess [we need to] evaluate what’s next.”

Here’s what she’d like to do with the house:

“I’m one of the co-founders of the Macefield Music Festival and we named it after Edith Macefield. It would be great if it could be a community space. Almost a living museum, community area. We’d love it to have our headquarters for our festivals.”

Some people showed up to the auction with a bouquet of colorful balloons in reference to the Pixar movie Up.