The house from Pixar’s classic animated movie Up may soon by listed in a property auction, giving you the chance to own a little Disney magic… but you may be a little taken aback by its current condition, which is rather worse for the wear compared to to the vibrantly colored, weatherboard-clad gem seen in the film.
Via Wikimedia
The house has at least one thing in common with Carl Fredricksen’s flying abode: it is clad with timber. However, the timber in this case comes in the form of chipboard sheets: The house was boarded up and has stood derelict since 2009. It has been reported that the current owner owes $185,000 on the property, which will be put up for auction in March if the debt is not settled.
Although it did not serve as direct inspiration for Disney, the building’s recent history draws some extraordinary parallels with the plot of the much-loved film. 84-year-old Seattle resident Edith Macefield refused to sell her plot to developers despite an offer of $1 million in 2006, and they ended up constructing a five-story office block around her home. Carl’s home suffers from a similar predicament in ‘Up’ — until, of course, Carl and his boy-scout friend Russell are spirited away by an prodigious bunch of helium balloons.
Carl Fredricksen’s House in ‘Up’. Via GalleryHip
When Edith sadly passed away in 2008, she left the house to superintendent Barry Martin, who then sold the property to Greg Pinneo in 2009. That same year, Disney’s marketing team caught wind of an advertising opportunity, attaching their own cluster of balloons to the building’s roof to help promote the movie.
Edith Macefield’s house in 2009. Via Lifestyle
Now that the house is abandoned, it will take a special kind of buyer to bring it back to its quaint and colorful best — otherwise it is likely to be swallowed up by the commercial structures that currently surround it.
Any takers out there?
Yours animated,
The Angry Architect
Top image via HDW