West Seattle had its own holdout

This P-I article today reminded us of something similar along West Seattle’s waterfront Condo Row about 10 years ago — a Harbor Ave condo complex that went up in a U shape around one semi-ramshackle little house whose owner refused to sell. We managed to find an archived P-I article mentioning the Harbor holdout, photo included (scroll down this page). According to city permit records, the house finally came down, and the condo buildings came together, in 1999. Haven’t yet found a record of how much the holdout house finally sold for, though.

Jan October 2, 2007 (9:29 pm)

I think – although I could be wrong – that the house came down after the elderly woman who had been living there passed away.

Venkat October 2, 2007 (10:46 pm)

You have some good internet research skills.

Tim McMonigle October 2, 2007 (11:41 pm)

If I remember right, there used to be two houses in that courtyard…two friends who had lived next to each other a long time. They decided to finally sell to the developer with the stipulation that they live there until they died.

Along the way, I was sad to see one house be demolished, and then a short time later (can’t remember how long), the other house was torn down.

It’s just sad to see the whole character of Alki be reduced to the line of condos currently there or being constructed.

Gina October 3, 2007 (8:57 am)

Jan-she did get to live there until her death. Used to give her a silent cheer everytime I drove by. She left her heirs a nice financial legacy–I think the price the developer was offering kept going up.

Angela October 3, 2007 (10:12 am)

We always chuckled a bit when we drove by those two little houses in that courtyard. It sure did make a statement for the little guy – or gals in this case. Hooray for them!!

Migs October 3, 2007 (10:13 am)

Yesterday’s P.I. had an article about an 86 year old woman refusing to sell for $1 million in Ballard. There is a great picture included…http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333917_macefield02.html

flipjack October 3, 2007 (12:23 pm)

In the Breitbart video on the Ballard story it says they are putting a TRADER JOES in one of the new spaces by her house. WTF! Maybe soon West Seattle will be as cool as Ballard is.

WSB October 3, 2007 (12:50 pm)

yes, the new Ballard location’s been mentioned here … maybe that’s a sign of hope for WS, given that some Ballard businesses have found success expanding here (Matador, Cupcake Royale). How about we synergize some of the current concerns by standing on the Fauntleroy overpass with a big banner reading TRADER JOE’S NOW!

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