Whenever people write about Ballard's Edith Macefield House, they usually make a reference to 'Up,' which has some parallels with the real-life story. However, the real story of Edith Macefield and the reasons she decided not to take a million dollar offer from developers isn't quite what people think. In fact, Macefield was less concerned with taking a stand against greedy developers and more concerned with simply remaining comfortable in her final years. Still, her story is one that resonates and it may actually be turned into a movie of its own after all.
The Hollywood Reporters says that Fox Searchlight has picked up the film rights to Barry Martin's 2013 memoir Under One Roof. Martin, who was the superintendent on the Ballard Blocks construction project, struck up a deep friendship with Macefield as the project engulfed the space around her home. When she died, she willed the house to him. The film would center on the relationship between the two and "how living a life with dignity is a basic human need."
Today the house is owned by a nonprofit attempting to move it to Orcas Island where it will become affordable housing.
· Seattle 'Up' House Movie in the Works From Fox Searchlight [THR]
· Listen Up [CS]
· All Edith Macefield House coverage [CS]