This is the real house from 'Up'

Yes, it looks remarkably like a real-life version of the house in the 2009 Pixar film 'Up' – because that's more or less what it is.

Tue, 04 Mar, 2014 - 16:12

Dave Molloy

This fascinating little image cropped up on Reddit overnight: the home of Edith Macefield in Ballard, Seattle.

Yes, it looks remarkably like a real-life version of the house in the 2009 Pixar film 'Up' – because that's more or less what it is.

Edith Macefield lived in that home during the construction project which now surrounds it, becoming something of a folk hero in the area.

She became famous when, in 2006, she turned down an offer of US $1million for her home - something that caught the eye of a Pixar employee, leading them to later put balloons on the house near the release of 'Up'.

Edith said no - so they build around it.

And, unlike the protagonist of the movie she partly inspired, she didn't have a rivalry with the foreman on the construction site: instead, they were friends.

In a fascinating story in Komo News, Barry Martin, the construction superintendent, dropped by and helped out around her home.

"Instead, Martin spent two years nursing the elderly Macefield, whose health was declining. During the construction, he fed her, stayed long nights with her, listened to her sometimes-unbelievable stories about being a spy in World War II, about escaping from a concentration camp, about hobnobbing with Jean Harlow and Charlie Chaplin. He cleaned her house, bathed her, took her to doctor's appointments, ran her errands," the Komo News reported.

Such is the power of the symbol of that house, that a local tattoo artist has a design based on it - one at least 20 residents of the area have gotten.

Edith Macefield died in June 2008, in her late 80s, leaving behind an urban legend about the lady who wouldn't move, and all her stories of life as a spy in World War II.

The house itself is no longer in such good repair – you can find it on Google Maps here – but is being restored by a local real estate company to include a public space.

Isn't that nice?

Photo via Reddit. Barry Martin's book, "Under One Roof: Lessons I Learned from a Tough Old Woman in a Little Old House" is available online here.