Construction cranes transformed Seattle's Ballard neighborhood in 2006, where one modest century-old house remained exactly where it had always been. Its owner, Edith Macefield, then 84, reportedly turned down a buyout package worth about $1 million, even as neighboring properties were sold and demolished to make way for a large commercial development. Developers tried to alter their plans, rather than forcing the issue. When the Ballard Blocks project was being completed, the five-story retail and commercial complex wrapped around three sides of Macefield's small white house, which left it standing alone in the middle of an otherwise modern development. According to HistoryLink , Macefield said she had no interest in moving because the house held decades of personal memories, including those of her late mother.
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