TIL that in 2006, a woman named Edith Macefield turned down a reported offer of $1 million to sell her 108-year-old farmhouse to make way for a commercial development in the Ballard neighborhood
TIL that in 2006, a woman named Edith Macefield turned down a reported offer of $1 million to sell her 108-year-old farmhouse to make way for a commercial development in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Instead, the five-story project was built surrounding her house.
In July 2009, Barry Martin sold the house to real estate investor Greg Pinneo for $310,000.[18] Pinneo intended to use the house as an office to run his real estate coaching firm Reach Returns.[19] However, on March 13, 2015, the house went through foreclosure auction and was subsequently put back on the market.[18] Pinneo had failed to pay back taxes on the house.[20]
It's surprising because it was not worth that at the time, and she knew they'd develop all around her, and she lived there. This wasn't an investment property and she wasn't holding out for more. She was just stubborn and didn't want to move. It has sold a couple times since then for ~300k.
She died 2 years later. Assuming she was old and/or in poor health, I can absolutely understand not wanting to move. It's especially stressful for the elderly who may have lived there for decades. And it's not like she could take the money into the afterlife anyway.