Hold out Ballard home to be turned into rental

The small Ballard home that became a national example of standing up to development is finally going to get its makeover, four years after its owner died.

Edith Macefield refused to give up her small, 109-year-old home, even when offered a $1 million. She lived in the house since 1966 and refused to give up on her home despite mounting pressure from the developers. Her story was likened to Disney’s movie “Up” and made national headlines.

The development, just off the Ballard Bridge, went up around her home anyway. Now it sits there engulfed in concrete.

Before Macefield died in June of 2008, she willed her home to Barry Martin, a construction supervisor who became her friend. Martin then sold the home in July of 2009 for $310,000 to Greg and Shauna Pinneo.

The Pinneo’s had plans to elevate the home and create a sanctuary below, but they’ve been scrapped. The Seattle Times reports it will now be renovated and turned into a nightly rental home with room for six.

Martin was accepting of Pinneo’s plan, saying it would remind of Edith when he drove by. But he added that people in Seattle often misinterpret her story.

“Everyone liked to think she wanted to stick it to the man,” Martin said. “But she really just wanted to do what she wanted to do, and money didn’t mean anything.”