Future of ‘Up’ House in the Air

The future of the “Up” house, which inspired the 2009 Disney movie “Up,” is currently unknown.

Edith Macefield, 85, made headlines in 2006 when she refused a $1million offer to sell the house to developers, who wanted to build a boutique supermarket and health club in its place.  Instead, builders erected a five-story commercial project around the 115-year-old property.

Macefield died in 2008, and willed the house to Barry Martin, the construction superintendent on the project, who had befriended her.  Martin subsequently sold the property to a company called Reach Returns, and the property eventually went into foreclosure.  At an auction, the house failed to attract bids, prompting the house to return to its beneficiary who owes about $186,000 on the property. 

Bidders said that any purchaser of the property would have had to assume the first deed of trust, which would have amounted to an additional $300,000 on top of the opening minimum bid of $216,270.70.

See ‘Up’ House Attracts No Bidders, Could Be Torn Down, Fox News, March 13, 2015.