BALLARD, Wash. — A nonprofit organization's campaign to raise money to relocate a famous Ballard holdout house is off to a slow start.
OPAL Community Land Trust's started a Kickstarter account for the famous Edith Macefield, which is facing demolition unless $205,000 is raised to pay for its move to Orcas Island.
Numerous attempts to keep the house in its current location between commercial space have failed.
>> PHOTOS: Look inside Ballard home reminiscent of 'Up'
As of Tuesday night, online donors pledged a little more than $7,000 to the goal. The proposal needs $205,000 in donations by September 15, 2015. If the goal isn't reached, the house will be demolished.
OPAL submitted a proposal to float the house to Orcas Island on a barge, where it will be repurposed and donated to a family in need.
The “Up House” moniker is derived from the house’s similarities to a 2009 Pixar film about an elderly man fighting to save his beloved house from developers.
The Ballard home became famous after owner Edith Macefield refused a $1 million offer from developers. Builders then constructed a large commercial building, surrounding the house on three sides.
"I went through World War II: the noise doesn't bother me," Macefield told the Seattle PI during the 2007 construction around her house. "They'll get it done someday."
Macefield died in 2008 at age 86. She left the house to Barry Martin, a superintendent of the construction who helped her with errands in the final years of her life. Martin sold the house for $310,000 one year after Macefield’s death.
The house went up for auction in March 2015, but no buyer would assume the $300,000 in liens. The liens were dropped in the next listing, and the anonymous seller gave the house to the person who made the best offer. The seller had one requirement for the new owner – They had to find a way to honor Macefield at the site.
The woman who bought the “Up house” planned to repurpose the home into coffee and pie shop dubbed “Edith Pie”. However, the city of Seattle requires the home to comply with current building codes, which the broker behind the home sale said is “virtually impossible.”
KIRO
