"I was nervous, that first day on the job, walking up to Edith Macefield's house. I'd heard so much already. Developers had purchased most of a city block in Seattle, Washington, to build a office and shopping area. They'd gotten every inch of the property they wanted except for this one little ramshackle house. They'd even offered her $1 million for it, and she had declined. So they had had to build around it."
"Edith's gate was about 40 feet from my construction trailer, so whenever I saw Edith outside, I wandered over for a chat. One morning, she called my cell phone and asked if I would mind driving her to the hairdresser. I was surprised by the request: She seemed to value her independence above everything else. Whenever I went to check that she was OK, I had to make it look like I just happened to be there; otherwise, she'd get angry."
A homeowner in Seattle refused a $1 million offer as developers bought most of a city block and built an office and shopping complex around her ramshackle house. The homeowner guarded her privacy and often chased people away. A construction worker initially felt nervous but gradually developed a friendly, low-key rapport by appearing coincidentally and offering practical help. The homeowner accepted occasional rides to the hairdresser and joked about her booster seat. The relationship had moments of warmth and tension when the homeowner reacted angrily to perceived pressure to move.
Read at Boston Condos For Sale Ford Realty
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]