The real-life 'Up' house, which saw its elderly owner refuse to take $1million from developers to move out looks set to be demolished by a wrecking ball when it is auctioned off. In 2006, Edith Macefield took a stand against developers by staying in the house in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood where she had lived in for almost 60 years despite being offered money to leave so new retail and office space could be created. Both she and the 1,000 square foot house became a symbol of standing up to corporate giants after developers were forced to awkwardly build around it. Scroll down for video . The house was often compared to the house in the Pixar movie 'Up' where an elderly man refuses to leave his house to go into a nursing home so turns it into an airship by attaching balloons to it . The world famous 'holdout house' where an elderly woman took a stand against developers forcing them to build around her home, is to be auctioned off this Friday . In 2006 Edith Macefield, 84, was offered $1 million in cash and help with healthcare and housing to sell her home to developers of a retail center in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard . The story mirrored the plot of the Disney Pixar movie Up, which sees an elderly man refuse to leave his house to go into a nursing home so he turns it into a makeshift airship by attaching balloons to it. However, Ms Macefield passed away from pancreatic cancer in June 2008, leaving the house boarded up and empty. Tomorrow it will be entered into a foreclosure auction, where it is expected to be bought by developers and demolished. It comes after a friend she left the house to sold it to a company called Reach Returns, who planned to keep it in tact for a new project. But when the company started work, they weren't able to get the financing they needed and defaulted on their loans, meaning it went into foreclosure. The row with developers came after the neighborhood of Ballard, just across Salmon Bay from Seattle, held out against the forces of gentrification until 2000 when developers came knocking. Condominiums and shopping malls for tech-industry workers began to spring up where once modest family homes had once stood. By 2006, Ms Macefield's home stood almost alone, her neighbors long gone, as developers prepared to build Ballard Blocks, a retail and office development. She was offered $1 million in cash for her property, in addition to assistance with housing and healthcare. But she turned down the money for the simple reason that she did not want to leave. Macefield refused to leave her home of 50 years, and construction began on the development that would end up surrounding her house and garden . Ms Macefield had lived in the house for almost 60 years, having originally moved there in 1952 to take care of her ailing mother. It was home to all of her memories, and a large collection of ceramic cats, dogs and cows. The money meant nothing to her, she did not want to move, and had already rejected a smaller buyout offer a couple of years before. As concrete walls began to tower some five floors high above her home, her fame grew and she earned the grudging respect of the construction workers that would pass by every day. Ms Macefield never had to leave her home, and she died there aged 86, leaving the small house sandwiched between a Trader Joe's and an L.A. Fitness. Ironically, she left the house to the supervisor of the very project that had tried to displace her. Barry Martin was one of several construction workers that got to know Ms Macefield, often dropping in to check on her. 'She would get up really early to feed the birds every day,' Mr Martin told Yahoo Homes. 'And so if we ever didn't see birdseed out front by 10 am, we'd know to go check on her.' As concrete walls began to tower above her home, her fame grew and she earned the grudging respect of the construction workers that would pass by every day . Macefield never had to leave her home, and she died there aged 86, leaving the small house sandwiched between a Trader Joe's and an L.A. Fitness. Mr Martin would even drive her to hair appointments, run errands, cook for her and take her to hospital. She was tough and stubborn and would test Mr Martin, but he could be too and did not stop looking after her. 'All she wanted to do was live and die in her house, and that seems like a pretty simple request. And all she really needed was some help using her hands and being on her feet,' he said. Ms Macefield, a very private person, did not like the worldwide attention she received for just wanting to stay put in her home. She stood her ground not because she was standing up to corporate America or because she wanted to be a hero. She simply didn't want to leave. 'Some people still believe that she was doing it to stand up against the man, and that really wasn't it. 'She decided what it was she wanted to do and stuck to her guns, and that part to me makes sense. That's what I relate to,' said Mr Martin. The house is now boarded up ahead of the auction at the end of the week, where it is expected to face demolition by a wrecking ball . Macefield was a reluctant folk hero with a colorful past. She claimed she was not trying to make a stand against corporate America. She simply didn't want to leave . The story of the house came at the end of a remarkable life according to stories she told Mr Martin, some of which he was able to corroborate through letters and photographs he found after her death. Ms Macefield had a large musical collection, and played the clarinet. She talked of playing with jazz and swing musician Benny Goodman, her cousin, and his friends Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. She had lived overseas in her early life, could quote from classic books, and spoke multiple languages. She also claimed to have worked as a spy during World War II, until she was captured and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau, from which she then escaped. Later she ran an orphanage for war refugees before returning to America to look after her mother. Despite shunning the limelight she has been immortalized in Seattle due to her refusal of the developer's money. Some two dozen people are reported to have tattoos of her house; a drink is named after her at a local cocktail bar; and the Macefield music festival still attracts a crowd of 3,000 people each year.
Often-compared to the Pixar movie 'Up', home-owner Edith Macefield, 84, was offered $1 million to vacate her house . She refused, staying in the home she had spent almost 60 years in, forcing developers to build around her . Ms Macefield became a reluctant folk hero and passed away in 2008 at the home in Seattle as she had wished . She left the house to one of the construction crew at the neighboring project who had looked after her . He sold the house to developers who were unable to make their plans work and the property was foreclosed . It is now up for auction and the new owner will likely knock it down with a wrecking ball due to its dilapidated state .