"strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember, you can't take it with you. ♪ >> they're cars you never heard of. >> he liked to buy unique cars -- kissels, grahams, overlands. he always used to say, "i don't want to meet myself on the road." >> it's a great hobby. keeps you out of the beer joints. >> do you have your foot on the brake, teacher? just in case? >> i haven't jumped out yet. >> these heirs hit a fork in the road... >> so that is a point of contention. do you donate cars here? do you have an auction? >> it's really tough to get every sibling on the same page. >> yeah, i'd say we're no different. >> ...until they hear an emotional voice from the past. >> when we go by his gravesite, he's probably on high spin mode up there. >> it's just money. can't take it with you.

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm cruising through boone county, iowa, smack dab in the middle of corn country. i'm here to meet the heirs of a man who left behind dozens and dozens of "orphans." orphan cars, that is. so, what's an orphan car? you're about to find out. >> my name is jerry quam. my father, grant quam, liked to collect orphan cars, which are cars that were manufactured by companies that are no longer in existence today. many of these are rare cars of which there's only a few known to exist. >> i meet up with jerry and his brother john at this modern, climate-controlled barn. what's in the barn? you got tractors, you got horses? >> something better. >> better than that? >> you're gonna love this. >> whoa.

i am in heaven. did you know i love cars? >> i've heard a rumor. >> this is an incredible collection. you inherited this? >> our father's collection. >> i imagine there's a great story behind these cars. >> each and every one. >> these car stories begin right up the road in roland, iowa, where john and jerry's father, grant quam, grew up in the 1920s. >> why was your dad so passionate about cars? >> he grew up on a farm and they were pretty poor, but he'd see people coming into town driving around in these fine cars, and that got him excited about it. >> while grant may not be able to afford these fancy cars, he sure can fix 'em up. >> he had a real knack for fixing things. machinery and cars. >> soon enough, the budding mechanic is running a little repair operation out of the farm corncrib. and when he's a teen, grant

finally figures out a way to buy his first car -- using his school lunch money. so cars were more important than food. >> that's probably true. >> when the great depression hits, it devastates farm country and grant's family. >> his father -- they lost the farm and stuff. you know, when he left home, everything he owned was in a shoebox. >> at the same time, hundreds of car manufacturers are losing it all, too. in the early 1900s, nearly 1,800 companies are in the carmaking game. and as late as 1925, some 237 remain. but the depression wipes out a great many of those, with some luxury brands hanging on only to collapse after world war ii. >> cars like the pierce-arrow, peerless, and packard, you don't hear of any of those today. they're all gone. >> so an orphan car is a car with no parents. >> yeah, that's basically right. >> so when grant reaches his mid-50s and starts seeing some real-estate investments pay off,

he's finally able to track down those orphan cars that fascinated him in his youth. >> there's not a lot of fords or chevys. he liked to buy unique cars. he always used to say, "i don't want to meet myself on the road." >> grant's not likely to meet himself on the road driving one of these. not only are his cars from unique manufacturers, many of the particular models are extremely rare, too -- like this 1936 pierce-arrow roadster. >> there's maybe fewer than five that are known to exist of that car. >> i'm totally loving the paint. is it also unique? >> the guy he bought it from liked butter-nut coffee, so he painted the car to look like the butter-nut coffee can. >> grant's 1925 kissel gold bug, made popular by amelia earhart, is just as rare. can i get inside? >> absolutely. >> i'm gonna try to slide in. [ grunts ] wow. you had to be petite.

not so graceful. i could drive this. now you guys know what i like, okay? some of grant's finds are so uncommon, they were thought to have vanished long ago. >> this is a 1934 plymouth phaeton. when he first bought this, a lot of plymouth people here in the u.s. claimed that the car didn't exist. >> what? >> and they said that it was false advertising on the car. but finally, after some background checks, it turned out to be the real deal. >> and here's another rare phaeton, this one supposedly built at the 1934 world's fair in chicago. grant's orphan cars even become the focus of segment on a local public tv program in 1999. did you see the pbs clip when it aired? >> i did. it was a show that they were doing at the time in iowa that was about people had unique

collections. in 2007, grant passes away at the age of 91. >> was he specific with you, jerry, and your family about what he wanted you to do with the cars? >> he never really approached it when we were alive. he never really talked about that. >> do you wish he was more specific? >> yeah, in some ways it would have been better. >> six years later, when their mom, betty, dies, grant's four children -- now "orphans" themselves -- still haven't settled on a plan for their strange inheritance. >> so that is a point of contention. do you donate cars here? do you have an auction? every family has their differences. some want to do this, some want to do that. >> the oldest sibling, john, wants to keep the collection intact. the youngest, jerry, who's gone into collecting, leans that way, too. but the other two siblings, jim and marilyn, don't have the same emotional connection to the

cars and would just as soon sell them. >> we're all pretty independent people. >> that's hard. >> absolutely, it's hard. >> and it won't be getting any easier -- because while grant had plenty of beauties like these, he left behind even more like this. >> i thought, "oh, my gosh, what have i gotten myself into this time?" this was like entering a crime scene almost. >> a crime scene?! we'll walk it, next. >> but first... the answer when we return. we asked a group of young people when they thought they should start saving for retirement. then we asked some older people when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement.

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>> there never was an airmobile. o-we-gos were produced in owego, new york, american chocolates in a chocolate factory, and a car without a name thought owners might prefer to title their models themselves. >> grant quam's passion was tracking down orphans -- rare and unusual cars from now-defunct automakers. can you rattle off for me some of the rarer cars in the collection? >> 1925 kissel gold bug. 1911 and a 1913 overland.

1913 studebaker. pierce-arrows, grahams. >> he gathers over 80 unique models, such as this 1920 peerless roadster. >> it was one of the most original cars he's ever bought. it still has the original radiator hoses. they're white because that was the natural color of rubber, and they started to color rubber black later on. >> after grant's death in 2007, his heirs are torn about what to do with their father's unique car pool. do they sell? keep? donate? >> you know, i find, with inheritances, it's really tough to get every sibling on the same page. >> yeah, i'd say we're no different. >> but before any decisions can be made, the family needs to know what the cars are worth. for that, they bring in appraiser jim mcdonald from des moines. he learns grant's hoard of automobiles is spread out among three locations, and not every car looks shiny and new.

this machine shed is jam-packed with grant's junkers, barn finds, and project cars. >> when i first walked into it, i thought, "oh, my gosh, what have i gotten myself into this time?" this was like entering a crime scene almost. a lot of these cars had been sitting for 10, 15, 20 years. this looks like it was last driven in 1956. >> these cars are worth a little, maybe a thousand -- more if they get fixed up. a second building holds about 15 mid-tier-quality cars. jim puts these in the five-figure range. but the real money is in the final storage area, what grant called his "inner sanctum." >> this had his pierce-arrow, it had his auburn, it had his kissel. it had all the better cars. >> jim photographs and grades each one, including this exceptionally rare model, a 1922 detroit electric. >> electric cars were very

much favored by women in the early days of cars. they were popular because women weren't able to crank the cars and get them started. >> i'm in! >> this is the steering wheel. >> really? >> well, kind of. this is like a tiller on a boat. >> okay. >> so if you want to go this direction, you push that way, if you want to go that direction, you pull back here. >> okay, i got it. >> then, this is your speed. here is the brake that works sometimes. >> sometimes, john? >> ready to go? >> yes. >> let's do it. >> the engine turns on with a simple flip of the switch. >> the first click, and there you go. >> oh! yikes. >> there you go. >> oh, slow it down, slow it down, slow it down. >> pull this back. >> i'm an excellent driver. i'm an excellent driver. this is like driver's ed. do you have your foot on the brake, teacher? just in case? >> i haven't jumped out yet. >> going straight is one thing, but now the real challenge -- turning! the turns are not so easy. >> no. you'd do well back in that time period. you'd be the, uh, envy of

the neighborhood. >> whoo-hoo! how'd i do? >> excellent. >> yay! >> better than me. >> sold. including that detroit electric, the appraiser arrives at a total value for the collection of over one million dollars. a nice chunk of change, but even that doesn't shift grant's heirs out of neutral. the siblings need something more to finally settle the dispute on how to handle their father's cars. that's when they receive a message, almost from beyond the grave. that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you.

the answer when we return. you do all this research

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>> he committed the first speeding infraction in the u.s., winding up in jail for driving a breakneck 12 miles per hour down lexington avenue, four over the limit. >> grant quam's four children can't agree on what to do with their strange inheritance -- 80 so-called orphan cars potentially worth over a million dollars. >> jim and marilyn think it's time to sell, but jerry and john would like to see the collection kept together. >> i've had a chance to experience most every car here.

spent a lot of time in these. i've driven most of them through the years. >> it's two against two. something's got to give. how do they decide? they go to the videotape. remember that local-tv piece featuring grant all those years ago? turns out a crucial part of grant's interview was never broadcast. >> it was like a 15-minute segment, but later they offered up the entire raw footage of the shoot. >> they pop the cutting-room-floor footage in the vcr. during the unedited, hour-long interview, grant is asked about many topics that never reach air, including the future of his cherished autos. listen. >> [ laughs ]

>> their father's words end the debate -- the siblings will auction off the cars. >> now, for me personally, um, that was probably a harder pill to swallow. >> did you fight it? >> no. there's a time when things, whether you like it or not, need to happen. my ideal thing would have been not to have sold the cars, but that -- that wasn't gonna work. >> soon after, the family hires auctioneer yvette vanderbrink to handle the sale of their dad's collection. >> my first impression was, wow, this is really a lot of automotive history. >> yvette immediately puts the family to work. she wants as many of the vehicles as possible up and running by the auction. >> so here we are at the farm. this gives you an idea of what we're up against. >> how much work went into getting them ready for auction? >> it's overwhelming to deal with. you got to get the mechanics up working on 'em, you got to get the detail people to come up.

it's a long process., the family brings many back to life. and as the auction nears, the reality of saying goodbye to dad's cars begins to sink in. >> this is a piece of dad. it's very personal to your father. >> yeah. but he always used to say there's time slots in life, right, for different things. and, uh, anyway, this time slot is over, right, so it's time to sell 'em and -- and move on. >> of course there's no telling what grant's unusually rare models might sell for. >> how do you set a price on some of these? >> that is the hard part. how do you find a comp for a '36 pierce when there's never been one sold and there's only five made? >> what do you expect? >> it's really, really hard to know, because as my dad used to say, an auction, you need two buyers that want the car, three is better. >> up next -- which of grant's orphans find a good home... >> at 40, 40, 40. now 5. >> ...and which ones do not.

what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. ♪ [vo] is it a force of nature?

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> in september 2015, the heirs of grant quam are auctioning off their father's treasured fleet of orphan cars. you think you're doing this auction to his satisfaction? >> well, that's a good, good question. we always tease that, uh, when we go by his gravesite, he's probably on high spin mode. >> the biggest concern -- whether the right buyers will make the trek to small-town iowa for these exceedingly rare models. >> it's been a long adventure, nine months of getting ready. so we're kind of anxious to see how this all goes today. >> at 37, now 8. at 38, at 8, at 8. >> auctioneer yvette vanderbrink kicks things off with the heavy hitters. >> we're gonna start with the

better cars and sell them right off the bat, and the reason why i like to do that is, everybody has money and comes to the sale. everybody wants to take the prom queen. >> but some of those prom queens aren't going anywhere without the right bid. >> this is a 1936 pierce-arrow. this also is being sold subject to confirmation. >> this will be the car that tells the tale on the auction. there were some serious players here yesterday looking at it, so we'll see what happens. >> at 35, at 5, at 5. at 35. where are you gonna find one? it's one of five, guys. >> but today, that right buyer doesn't show up. >> okay, folks, that has not met the reserve. if you are interested, come talk to us. >> grant's 1925 kissel gold bug also fails to hit the minimum bid. >> you have to have the right people here, and you never know. we don't want to give the cars away. >> after that distressing start,

they learn they won't have to. the auction picks up speed with the '34 phaeton, said to have been built at the chicago world's fair. >> at 45,000. at 45, 5, 5. at 40,000, let's go. you have to step up your game there. at 51, 1, 1, at 1. at 51,000. it's just money. can't take it with you. sold at $53,000. [ applause ] >> soon after, someone steers away with that detroit electric i drove for 48 grand. >> [ calling ] >> and the auction just keeps rolling. grant's '34 plymouth goes for 45k. his '37 lasalle brings in another 48. a '36 graham fetches 28k,

while this 1913 studebaker sells for 25,000. >> so far it's looking -- looking okay >> now up for bid -- grant's 1920 peerless roadster. >> 60, 60, 60, at 60. at 60,000. now 5. at 65, 5, 5. at 65. now 90. at 90, 90, 90. at 90, at 90,000. now 5. at 95, 5, 5. at 95,000. 1, 1, at 1. at 101. 101,5. sold at $101,000. >> that was surprising because it takes a very special buyer to buy that car. >> by the end of the day, the family hauls in over 700,000 bucks. and with those two big-value cars still left to sell privately in the future, the family believes they'll break the million-dollar mark. >> it's a bittersweet thing. i mean, as i started seeing cars

going out of here, it's kind of reality. but it feels good to see people that love them, and they'll take care of them. >> and isn't that what adopting an orphan is all about? jerry's sure he's done right by his dad, getting his babies into good hands. >> his time slot is over. it's time for another custodian to take ownership and enjoy the car, because sitting inside in a dark building made no sense. they should be out and enjoyed. so we're happy to see that, and he would have too. >> before the auction, jerry quam purchased a few cars from his father's collection. he didn't pick the ones that were the most valuable or rare. in fact, the cars didn't even mesh with his personal car collection. the vehicles simply reminded jerry most of his father. so even after his children have to bid farewell to their dad's precious cars, a part of grant's legacy will live on and stay in the family.

i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember... >> it's just money. can't take it with you. >> majestic trees thousands of years old... >> these are the biggest trees i've ever seen, and they're beautiful. >> the redwood forest has been on the planet since the dinosaurs. >> then the ax men cometh. one makes a redwood his ultimate log cabin... >> what? >> ...a log-rolling attraction. it's her strange inheritance. >> i was the only child, so i knew i was always gonna get the log. >> but the road takes its toll. >> it's hard to be the log lady and have a life and be the truck driver and the repair person and do it all. >> she's got a big decision to make. >> she sure does, jamie. she sure does. >> and what happens when it's time for the log to be inherited from you?

[ suspenseful music plays ] [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] [ mid-tempo music plays ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm heading to the annual blueberry festival in plymouth, indiana. it's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to see a massive california redwood, but this tree rocks because it rolls. >> my name is jamie allen, and, in 1985, when i was 23, my father passed away, and he left me something that his father left him, and it's kept me on the road all my life. >> jamie? >> jamie? >> [ chuckles ] how are you? it's really great to meet you. and how funny we have the same name. let's get started, then. >> all right, here we go. >> this is one serious tree trunk. [ mid-tempo folk music plays ] and the "root" of the story, according to jamie, is in the

late 1930s... when her grandfather, james allen, is a lumberjack in northern california. james, a widower with a son in the army, sees redwood trees so massive that several men can easily fit inside the hollowed trunks. one day, during a sudden rain squall, he seeks shelter in the trunk of a giant redwood. that's when it occurs to james that he could actually make a home out of one. >> it was the tail end of the depression. he couldn't afford to buy a regular house. my grandma had already passed away. >> so james allen combs the forest for a suitable tree. he finally discovers the perfect one on the property of the georgia-pacific lumber company, near eureka, california. >> he traded the lumber company for that section of log for work. and then it took him four months to burrow out all the wood and a year and a half to complete the

house. it was all done by hand. >> today, most of those lumber mills are gone. what was once called the "redwood empire" is now a state park. >> welcome to humboldt redwoods state park. >> oh, my gosh. these trees are so beautiful. >> and they're the tallest trees on the planet. let's go. >> emily burns, a tree scientist with the save the redwoods league, says there is a reason this part of the country grows such towering trees. >> the fog rolls in to the coast redwood forest from the pacific ocean, and these trees collect it, and they take in that water directly into their leaves, and they also rain it down to the forest floor, helping all the other plants and animals. come check out this tree over here. what you're looking at is a history of fire, really. this burned-out cave is called a "goose pen." >> oh, my gosh. go inside? >> go inside, yeah. >> and it could survive this? >> actually, this tree is fine. it's still growing well. and it's created an amazing

habitat for species like bats. do you like bats? >> not really. are they in here? >> they might be. they might be right up above you. >> oh, well, it was nice to see it. >> [ laughs ] [ soft music plays ] >> chopping down a tree so old is hard to fathom now, but, beginning with the 1849 gold rush, these behemoths supply a lot of lumber needed to settle northern california. >> as the miners were looking for gold, the redwoods started to be cut down to build cities like san francisco. >> even into the 1930s and '40s, redwood trees were still cut down by hand axes and whipsaws. it could take days for a 2-man team to fell a 12-foot-diameter tree. a log could easily weigh 50 tons. >> we've lost 95% of ancient forests like this one to harvest. this is one forest you won't find any other place on the planet. >> so, if this is it and i am

here, can i hug a tree? >> i hope you will. the tree is ready. >> you're calling out to me. give me a squeeze! ah! it's not hard to grasp why americans love their redwoods -- a must-stop on many a family car trip since before the interstate. maybe even you have gassed up at this filling station built entirely out of three redwood tree trunks or driven through this famous arch. used to cost a quarter. today, it's five bucks. but remember, back in 1939, jamie's grandfather isn't looking to create a roadside attraction. he simply wanted a place to hang his hat. [ mid-tempo march plays ] that tree he picked out was 1,900 years old. think about that. when it was just a seed, the roman empire was at its height. as it grew, rome fell...

islam rose... columbus sailed... the colonies rebelled... napoleon won -- and lost... and the wright brothers flew. >> he built the log and lived in it for seven years. >> right there in the forest -- until word gets out of the old fella living in a log. >> people would come and knock on the door and say, "what's in there?" so he used to take the log to schools. >> just load it on a trailer. presto -- a mobile home. in the late 1950s, james sr. passes away, leaving his only son, world war ii vet and traveling salesman james elwin allen, his unusual home. so the son of a lumberjack decides to take it cross-country, maybe make a buck while sharing his strange inheritance with the world. he sets off for parts unknown. his travels eventually lead him

to canada and a rodeo show called the calgary stampede. there he meets 18-year-old iris keiver. they're both smitten and soon get married. what do you think your mother thought about her husband driving around the country with a log house? >> i think it must've been very intriguing because my mother married my father, and that was a very unusual lifestyle. >> when baby jamie is born in 1961, james allen jr. packs up his young wife and daughter and heads right back out on the circuit, traveling the u.s. to fairs, carnivals, and exhibitions. >> i grew up in a family atmosphere of traveling people, and we just happened to have a log. >> step right up, put a nickel in the donation box, and see james allen's incredible cabin made from a genuine california redwood. your dad was able to support the family off of change donations? >> we had the log, a fudge

business, and he sold a lot of different types of products. >> so he was really a pro at this traveling business. >> he had his hands in so many pies it wasn't even funny. >> and it's not every day you get to walk through a tree. now that i heard your story, i've got to go inside. >> please go right in and see how beautiful it really is. >> that's next. what? >> but first -- our "strange inheritance" quiz question... the answer when we return. our special today is the seared ahi tuna. don't you hate that? when they don't tell you how much something costs and you have to ask? maybe that's why i always make sure to... ... "bring up the costs associated with your services." i know. transparency about costs. just one way edward jones makes sense of investing.

>> so, what is america's most visited national park? it's "a," the great smoky mountains in tennessee -- gets about 10 million visitors a year. >> it's not often you get the chance to walk through a 1,900-year-old redwood tree. i'll be out of the other side, i assume. >> i'll meet you at the other end. [ upbeat music plays ] >> welcome inside jamie allen's strange inheritance. what? [ chuckling ] oh, my god. look at this kitchen! the kitchen boasts a vintage hotplate and a sanitary brand refrigerator from the 1940s.

i did not expect this -- full kitchen, original kitchen, all-wood cabinets? in fact, every built-in facet of the log's interior is made entirely of redwood, hand-sanded, varnished, and polished to a glossy finish. to keep it that way, jamie tells me she polishes the entire interior from floor to ceiling every night. huh. look at that. that's how it was made. the pictures hanging in this gallery are jamie's only remaining photos of her grandpa. they chronicle his amazing endeavor -- the cutting of a tree 1,900 years old, the stump cut 14 feet in diameter. amazing. i'm imagining the four months it took for her grandpa to hollow out this log and then 18 months to painstakingly hand-build this redwood interior -- just tall enough to accommodate his 6-foot

frame and everything else he needed. it's a whole home -- couch, living room, dining room. bedroom? unbelievable. oh. this is beautiful! wow, jamie. it's like an elegant home inside. >> it's beautiful, isn't it? [ upbeat music plays ] >> and it's been home to jamie allen her whole life. >> i can't ever remember not living with a log. when i was a baby, my mother put me in a cardboard box because they didn't have a big crib to take with them. you can't carry a big crib in a log. [ country western music plays ] >> but when jamie turns five, her parents divorce. five years old? >> they just couldn't live together, you know? in the wintertime, my dad would come to town where i was going to school. he would come and stay at the apartment we lived in. >> and every summer, she joins

her father on the road. >> my dad always had me in the log. he'd give me 15 minutes at lunch, a half an hour at dinner, and 15 minutes at around 9:00. my father always knew where i was when i was a teenager. >> and it sounds like you loved it and you loved him. >> oh, a lot. >> when jamie turns 16, she goes full time on the fair-and-festival circuit, traveling with her dad. it's big-time bonding for father and daughter, but does he really want this life for his girl? coming up... >> i looked at my father like, "what, are you out of your mind?" >> but first... >> here's another quiz question for you... the answer when we return. i asked my dentist if an electric toothbrush was going to

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so, what city lays claim to the oldest state fair? it's "a." the new york state fair began in syracuse in 1841 and remains one of the largest in the u.s. >> happy blueberry festival to you. i'm at the indiana blueberry festival with jamie allen and her strange inheritance -- a cabin her grandfather carved out of a 1,900-year-old redwood. how many people do you think you meet a year as a result of traveling with a log? >> millions. [ chuckles ] literally, millions of people. >> she's been at it since she was a kid. for years, she crisscrossed the country with her dad. what's here? >> this is my friend mike mcneil, and he was a good friend of my father's, as well, so i thought he was somebody you might like to meet. >> oh, you mean you didn't just bring me over here to have something with sprinkles? >> [ laughs ] >> mike mcneil has run a

traveling concession stand like this one for 40 years. he and jamie's father crossed paths many times. >> jamie's dad was a good businessman, and he had a good heart, too, which is what you want people to say about you. >> okay... what i want is to see if mike's cheesecake is any good. >> wait a minute. >> ooh! they have everything inside. >> there you go. >> uh-huh. is this new york cheesecake? >> no, it's better. this is philadelphia. >> nothing is better -- oh, philadelphia? >> you haven't tried this. >> okay, so, what's the first step? >> dip it in the chocolate and pull it out. >> nice! >> pull it way up. >> okay, i would like sprinkles. >> sprinkles? right there. >> may i? >> go ahead. please do. >> i think i have to. >> you're gonna like that. >> mmm. >> there you go. >> give me a minute. give me a minute. wow! >> i told you that you would like that.

[ laughs ] >> the thing is, cheesecake on a stick is heavenly -- on that one weekend a year the fair comes to town... not so much when every weekend's the fair and every weekday's spent creeping down the highway to the next venue. but this was the life of james allen and the life he saw his daughter backing in to. >> i was the only child, so i knew i was always gonna get the log. >> all parents hope their kids have options, and, in 1978, when jamie is 17 years old, a stranger stops by the cabin and offers one. >> my dad approached me, and he said, "a man's very interested in buying the log. would you be interested in selling?" >> but i looked at my father like, "what, are you out of your mind? no, i don't want the money. i want the log." >> was not continuing what he did with the log ever an option for you? >> oh, no. when i was little and they asked me, "what are you gonna be when you grow up?" i'd say, "just like my dad." [ folk music plays ]

>> seven years later, in 1985, her dad dies of cancer. jamie, only 23, receives her strange inheritance, and, for the next 30 years, she's indeed just like her dad. any regrets that your dad didn't take that offer? >> no, it's a labor of love for me. >> you have any children? >> nope, just three dogs and a cat. >> and a boyfriend, buddy, who travels with her on the circuit. how much time do you spend with this log of yours? >> oh, i spend a lot of time with my log -- 14, 16 hours a day when we're showing, probably 4 to 6 months a year. >> and you make a living doing this? >> i try. it's not as lucrative as it used to be. it's taking its toll on me and the log. the roads are rough on it. we only get to go 56 miles an hour because you can't move it very quickly.

i get four miles to the gallon. bungees, buddy. >> are you losing money on this proposition? >> i think i'm breaking even. you know, i'm just floating along. >> how much money did you make off this venture last year? >> i think we took in maybe about $20,000. >> do you think about what will happen when you can't drive a rig anymore? >> well, the show's got to go on. we don't have a choice. >> or does she? [ upbeat music plays ] she's got a big decision to make. >> she sure does, jamie. >> that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> for 30 years, jamie allen has been the sole proprietor of allen's original redwood log house.

what was once a home for her lumberjack grandpa is now a traveling tourist attraction -- her strange inheritance. do people look at you on the road like, "wait -- what"? "that lady's driving a tree." >> you can see the passenger tell the driver, "look, there's a girl driving that thing." >> her policy of admission by donation, plus the revenue from souvenirs, once provided a decent living, but it's tougher with each passing year. >> it's hard to be the log lady and have a life and be the bookkeeper and the truck driver and the repair person and do it all. >> those worries are building in the fall of 2014, when jamie is exhibiting the log house at the pittsburgh home & garden show. a few exhibits away is an antiques appraiser named lori verderame. jamie invites her to check out her cabin. what was your first impression when you saw this log cabin? >> oh, i thought it was very unusual. i didn't realize that it was a

house inside until i went inside. >> the women begin brainstorming. is there anything jamie can do to make her business more lucrative, her future more secure? is her strange inheritance a "sell" or a "hold"? so we invited dr. lori to join us here at the blueberry festival to hear her advice. >> i have to look at it and evaluate it as a public attraction for its history. i have to look at it as a redwood log, a piece of a natural historical object. >> who buys a log? >> the people who say, "i'm a museum, i'm a conservation park, and i want to use it as an attraction to bring more awareness of my business." so the log really can stir an awful lot of interest. the other thing which impacts its value -- the log also generates money. >> well, jamie's told me she's just about breaking even. she's getting four miles to the

gallon. >> well, she's moving it. that doesn't mean that, if it were staying still, that she couldn't generate more money. >> it's a lot to take in. i don't really want the log to just stay in one place. >> did you choose this life on the road, or did it choose you? >> i think that it's a little bit of both. >> you're doing this since you're 23 years old. do you start to think, "maybe i ought to sell"? >> a lot of people ask me do i want to sell, and i tell them, "well, you never sell your family tree." [ upbeat music plays ] >> a family tree for sure. at the end of the great depression, an old lumberjack fells the 1,900-year-old redwood and makes a cabin from a section of the trunk. it starts out as his home, turns into a roadside attraction, and becomes a living for his son and then his granddaughter. and what happens when it's time for the log to be inherited from you? you don't have children.

>> no, but i have several godchildren that are very interested in the log. so we'll see who shows the most potential of making sure that it keeps traveling. >> words of a woman who knows she's approaching a crossroads but is not there yet. >> i've been doing what i've been doing for a long time, and i want my log to keep doing what it's doing. >> so your life's gonna be on the road for awhile. >> well, i'm pretty sure it probably will be. >> it's what you do. >> it's who i am. >> no doubt jamie allen's redwood cabin is a strange inheritance from a different era. consider this. the tree now believed to be the tallest in the world was discovered in this state park in 2006. far from turning it into an attraction, officials have kept its location secret. why? because if its location were known, they say, so many people would race off to see it that the tree's life would be in danger.

i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching, and remember, you can't take it with you. >> the people's house -- a family's legend. >> i can remember being a little kid and asking my father what it was. >> a century-old mystery. >> he said, "it's from the white house." and i go, "talking about d.c. white house?" i was just stunned. >> the white house neither confirms nor denies... >> what do you see? >> gold! [ laughs ] >> let's investigate! >> i scrape the paint layers down to the wood. >> and when you heard what it was worth? >> and sold! [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in boston to meet an heir

who has an inheritance so strange, it takes years just to figure out what it is. >> my name is mike meister. my siblings and i inherited something that goes back to our great-uncle more than a hundred years ago. we'd always been told that it came from the white house, but it was just a family story. hi, jamie. welcome to boston. >> thanks, mike. nice to meet you. >> yeah, nice to meet you, too. >> mike leads me inside, saying he has something amazing to show me. he keeps it in its own molded, air-tight protective case. can i take a look? >> sure can. >> you brought me all the way here, mike. this is... what is it? mike's strange inheritance is this piece of decorative pinewood. 30 inches long, 14 inches across, four inches thick. on the back is a faint signature and a date -- j.s. williamson, october 15, 1902. >> there's a real story behind it.

family legend is that it's from the white house. >> could that be? the white house does have a colorful past. it's nearly completed at the end of john adams' presidency. he moves in in november 1800, but stays only a few months. thomas jefferson spends two terms there before handing the keys to james madison. then british troops set it ablaze in the war of 1812. [ indistinct shouting ] first lady dolley madison orders the staff to remove this beloved portrait of george washington by gilbert stuart. but according to william seale, author of two books on the white house, the building's interior is destroyed. >> they burned the second floor with rubble, and then they broke up all the furniture and poured lamp oil on it. and the attic fell in, and then it burned through the main floor and the whole thing, in about two hours, was just a

shell. >> after the war, the original architect, james hoban, rebuilds it exactly as it had been -- in what will become known as the federal style. >> president madison decreed that it be rebuilt as a symbol of survival. >> by 1817, the renovation is almost complete and our fifth president, james monroe, moves in. a dozen years later, the seventh, andrew jackson, lets a drunken mob trash the place during his inaugural ball. maybe this poor piece of wood was part of the collateral damage. who knows? over the years, presidents come and presidents go, redecorating, repainting, and renovating to suit their individual tastes. then, in 1902, theodore roosevelt begins the first wholesale restoration of the mansion that he officially names "the white house." it's time to pick up the thread

of this strange inheritance story. according to mike meister, in 1902, his great-uncle, joseph williamson jr., is a law student at georgetown university in d.c. one day, he strolls down pennsylvania avenue, spots the piece of wood in a junk pile, and thinks, "it's pretty neat." >> joseph jr. picked it up. >> like a yard sale? did they buy it? >> no, it was scrap. i mean, it was things that were gonna be eventually hauled off to landfills, burned, whatever. >> he brings it home to illinois from law school and gives it to his father as a memento. his dad inscribes his name and writes the date on the back. the piece is handed down in the family to mike's dad, wayne meister, in the 1930s. where was it kept? >> it was in the basement of our house out in illinois -- a farm that my parents bought after world war ii. and it was hanging on a wall. i can remember being a little kid and asking my father what it was. and he would say, "that's a

piece of the white house." >> did you believe him? you're a farm kid in illinois, and your parents have a piece of a white house? >> when he said something, it meant he wasn't making things up. >> pretty cool, though it's just one conversation piece in a house that wayne and his wife, ann, pack with all sorts of gewgaws, knickknacks, and odd antiques. >> one of their hobbies was going to auctions and tag sales and finding things of value, and then, if they needed refinishing, they would refinish them. >> did they ever consider taking sandpaper or a paintbrush to that mysterious hunk of wood in the cellar? mike shudders to think. >> what if she decided, "this ugly old thing, i'm gonna strip the paint"? but she certainly never did. >> are you kidding? that could have happened? >> well, it didn't. >> in 1964, the meisters -- and a moving van full of antiques -- relocate to massachusetts. it's there, during christmastime in 1988, that mike, all grown

up, announces he's getting married. >> we had a family dinner to meet the in-laws. and my brother-in-law, larry forrest, was there. >> that night, mike brings larry into the attic. >> i said to larry, "i want to show you something," and i took him upstairs, and i showed him. it was in a moving box from 1964. >> they didn't even unpack it. >> no, no. >> mike pulled out a piece out of the box, and he said, "it's from the white house." and i go, "talking about d.c. white house?" he goes, "yeah." i was just stunned. if you asked somebody what's the most important building in our history, they're gonna say the white house. and here it was, sitting right next to me. >> did mike ask you to learn more about it for him? >> the more we got talking about it, we said, "let's find out where this came from." >> but it's just talk, and it will be for years. mike's dad dies in 1996, and his mom in 2001.

only then do the meister kids begin to deal with any of the old stf their parents accumulated. did your parents leave a will? >> we had a trust. >> did they specify? >> not in that particular case, no. to clean the house out, to send things to auction, and sell it, it was probably a good three months. but we kept a lot of the things, too, that meant something to each one of us. >> one of the things they keep is that distressed hunk of wood. >> there was no way we were gonna sell that, because we didn't even know what it was. >> what you think it was? >> an architectural element from the white house. but we had no idea what. >> it's not until 2007 that brother-in-law larry forrest convinces the meister family they need to get some answers. and he takes on the role of lead investigator. his first line of inquiry -- the white house itself. >> i spoke to a gentleman, and i told him about what the family had. and after the laughter and telling me that that wasn't possible, i said, "we're pretty

sure, it's written on the back," and so forth. and he goes, "it's probably from some other old building or whatever." >> but larry persists. his letters, his calls turn up nothing. then after two solid years, his search leads him to historian and author bill seale. >> i said, "can i just send you pictures?" so when he received them, he called me back and he goes, "i swear i've seen it." >> was it a eureka moment? that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the current oval office was not built until 1934, when f.d.r. was president. the answer when we return.

>> the answer is "b," a laundry drying area. but if you said "c," you might know that the first formal executive office was created by f.d.r.'s fifth cousin, theodore roosevelt, and today is known as the roosevelt conference room. >> for years, mike meister was told his father had a family heirloom like no other -- a decorative piece of wood with peeling paint, reputed in family lore to be from the white house. the problem -- nobody knows how to find out if the story is true. it's become an irresistible

mystery to mike and his brother-in-law, larry forrest, who are determined to solve it. larry's inquiries are all met by laughter and blank stares, until he calls author and historian bill seale. >> he was skeptical that it could be the actual white house. so i said, "can i just send you pictures?" >> what was your initial reaction? >> well, i thought it looked suspicious. [ laughs ] and so, i didn't tell them much until i researched it. >> did you say, "ah, just leave it in the attic another 50 years. it'll be fine"? >> no. no, i was too curious for that. >> in fact, the meisters' photos have bill scratching his head. >> he called me back, and he goes, "i swear i've seen it." >> bill is remembering a particular photo from 1898, during the mckinley administration, that he used in one of his books about the white house. the photo shows a hallway called the cross hall. >> this is the cross hall.

it's used a lot now. started by president george w. bush. >> there it is. >> and this is that march to the east room. in those days, you had a grand staircase here. >> and then, suddenly, bill spots it -- off in the corner, between a chair and a potted plant. right there -- see it? look familiar? sure looks like mike's strange inheritance. and there it is, in the white house, in 1898, when william mckinley is president. >> and there is the plinth. it's the only one it could be because it's for that side. >> i'd never heard of a plinth. what is a plinth? >> it's a base of a column that runs up the wall. >> how many were there? >> well, there were four. they were in niches in the hall where originally built for stoves. >> do we know where the other three are? >> no, nobody does. >> never been seen. so now i'm wondering, how does the plinth get from that cozy corner in the white house to the meister's attic?

well, in september 1901, president mckinley is in buffalo, new york, at the pan-american exposition. he's shaking hands with the public, when an anarchist named leon czolgosz assassinates him. suddenly, vice president teddy roosevelt is sworn in. among his many big ambitions is a gut rehab of the executive mansion. >> 1902 was a major reshaping of the symbol of the white house into a more rldly time. america became more international, and the white house was redone to be compatible with that. >> t.r.'s goal is to return it to its original federalist incarnation, while clearing it out to accommodate a brood of six children and a pony. it also means separating the living quarters from our nation's most important executive offices. >> he moved the offices out of the family floor and built

the west wing. he reorganized the place so it wasn't just an old plantation house. >> to that end, roosevelt's architects rearrange the entrance, removing this stairway and these victorian tiffany panels from the cross hall -- as well as all that old ornamental woodwork, like the plinths. the workers pile loads of rubbish outside, and souvenir hunters snatch it up. >> there is one letter from theodore roosevelt, and he said, "people are scattering around for souvenirs." >> so bill seale is beginning to believe that the meister family lore about great-uncle joseph must be true. and that this hunk of wood white house, going all the way back to 1817, when president monroe moved in after that nasty business with the british. were you interested in it? >> very. i was stricken by it, to tell you the truth. >> so, something that looks like

wood or plaster is actually a whole story, in and of itself? >> it's like dna. and the object has many, many things to say. >> and the next step is very much like a dna test. what they discover was that this strange inheritance was a lot more important and valuable an artifact than even bill seale had imagined. you're smiling. that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. which amenity was added during the obama administration? was it the white house... the answer when we return. your insurance company

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converted to a basketball court for the former high-school hoops player. >> it's november of 2009, and historian bill seale, based this photograph, believes that mike meister likely inherited a rare and very important relic -- an actual piece of the white house. it's an ornamental piece of wood called a plinth that may have been removed during teddy roosevelt's 1902 renovation. in order to verify its authenticity, seale advises the family to have the paint analyzed. so mike and his brother-in-law, larry forrest, drive from boston to bryn mawr, pennsylvania, to meet with this guy, historic paint analyst frank welsh. >> he said, "you guys go out for a little while, i'm gonna do analysis on it, and see what i think." >> frank studies the paint layers with a magnifying glass, and then a stereo microscope, as he scrapes away each layer with

an x-acto knife. >> then i start recording, starting with the layer closest to the wood numbering layers -- one, two, three, four -- all the way up to the most recent. >> well, we got a call in about half-hour, and he goes, "this is spot-on." there's 17 layers of paint on this, there's three layers of gold leaf on it. he said, "there's absolutely, 100%, exactly what it should be for that time period." >> everything seemed to line up very, very well. i felt very comfortable that the paints that i was looking at could easily be as old as they felt the plinth was. it is very unique. >> as t.r. would say, "that's bully!" in identifying those 17 layers of paint, frank may be the first person to open the door to a previously unknown decorative history of the white house. author bill seale matches each paint layer with a chapter in presidential history. >> if you want accuracy in

history, here's the real thing. this is our only touch with those periods. >> bill does the math. there were 21 administrations between presidents james madison and teddy roosevelt. but three of them -- harrison, taylor, and garfield -- were exceptionally short due to death from illness or assassination. if the hallway isn't repainted during those presidencies, and maybe one president lacks the inclination to repaint, you've got your 17 layers right there. after generations of repeating their family legend, the meisters now know they spoke the truth all along. you went from rejection to respect. how'd that feel? >> we had solved a mystery. >> bill seale encourages them to donate the plinth on the spot to the white house historical association. they say they're inclined to, but first they need to find out what it's worth. did you have a number in mind

that you thought it would be? >> no. >> what about you, larry? you did all the running around. >> you could shoot real high on this one, just from the fact of how much historical value it has. >> and when the meisters get the appraisal, they'll have some thinking to do. that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. ♪ come on, wake up!!! come on, why ya sleepin'? come on! what time is it? it's go time. come on. let's go, let's go, let's go. woooo hoooo!! yeah!! i feel like i went to bed an hour ago. i'll make the cocoa. get a great offer on the car of your grown-up dreams at the mercedes-benz winter event. it's the look on their faces that make it all worthwhile. thank you santa!!! now lease the 2017 c300 for $389 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. (vo) it's black friday at verizon and people are ready.

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"strange inheritance." >> by the fall of 2014 in boston, mike meister, and his brother-in-law, larry forrest, have determined that a piece of wood called a plinth, handed down through several generations in the meister family, really is from the white house, and very rare indeed. but is it valuable? they take it to an appraiser. you're smiling. >> well, he appraised it at $500,000. >> the appraiser was an old-time

white house appraiser. i was very surprised -- that was more than i expected it would be. >> who would buy such a thing? >> someone with the money to buy it, or someone that wants to buy it and give it to a museum or presidential library. >> historian bill seale is hoping the meister family will cut out the middleman, donate the plinth to the white house historical association themselves, and take a tax write-off. but that's a lot to ask of mike and his three siblings, who could be looking at walking away with $125,000 apiece. are you gonna sell? >> we're having it put up for auction. i think in the long run, and i'm hoping, that it'll be appreciated by many more people than might have been with the white house historical association. >> the meisters reach out to bobby livingston at rr auction in amherst, new hampshire. >> when i first laid eyes on the plinth, i was like, "wow! it's spectacular." as someone who handles a lot of historic items, when you see something like 17 layers

of paint, it tells a story. >> he joins us live from new hampshire. >> next thing you know, the story is getting big media coverage, including on fox news. >> we've never, in 30 years, offered any pieces of the 1817 white house. because there's no, you know, photography from that era, it's incredibly important. we've had registrations from all over the world, so we expect the bidding to be quite lively. >> number 22 -- architectural ornament from the main hall of the white house. >> the meister family is on hand for the auction in boston in september 2015. >> $100,000, $100,000, $110,000. >> here we go. >> $120,000. looking for $120,000. >> the bidding starts to pick up a little momentum. >> $120,000, $130,000, $140,000. >> but then it just fizzles. >> $160,000 once, $160,000 twice. sold, $150,000. fantastic. >> it's nowhere near the

half-million dollar appraisal, though a $150,000 is nothing to sneeze at. and mike reminds us that it wasn't only about the money but sharing a neat piece of america's past -- just like his ancestor, who wandered by the white house one day in 1902 and thought to snatch up a souvenir to send back home. is this the best case of being in the right place at the right time? >> i believe it is, i really do. i think from what we've learned of it and what hopefully other people can learn from it, i think it's a living piece of history. >> so, who bought mike meister's strange inheritance? well, we know this much -- a fox viewer. all bobby livingston would say is that one of those watching him on fox news before the auction was so intrigued, he phoned in and plunked down 150 grand. if you're watching now, enjoy your piece of history.

and, remember -- you can't take it with you. i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." >> it stands in the way. >> it's just her house in the middle of the block. >> she won't sell out. >> the 84-year-old seen here turned down $1 million payout. >> he's caught in the middle. >> i promised her that i wouldn't let them take her away. >> that's a really big promise. >> what's "up" with that? >> people from all over the country and even around the world have stopped by this house. >> they put balloons on the house, and that's how it became the "up" house. >> it is amazing. i can't believe that she held out. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, and today, i'm in seattle, headed toward the ballard neighborhood. it's an upscale area once known for sawmills and commercial fishing, and just down the road is one man's strange inheritance and a story with a hollywood ending. >> my name's barry martin. i inherited a tiny, hundred-year-old house from a little old lady. if there ever was a real-estate niche, this is one. >> hi, barry. i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie. nice to meet you. >> i meet barry in front of this little house. yep, this is it -- his strange inheritance. it's just 600 square feet, and it's now surrounded by a huge shopping mall -- a mall that the unlikely heir in this story helped build. >> who leaves this to somebody? >> well, edith left it to me. >> edith? >> yep. >> love to learn more. >> okay. come on. >> barry explains that when this house was built over a hundred years ago, ballard, washington,

was the shingle-mill capital of the world, with 20 mills producing 3 million shingles a day. >> there was fishing on elliot bay there, and the shingle-mill industry, all along shilshole avenue here. >> cass o'callaghan from the ballard historical society tells me more. did the neighborhood really change over the years? >> in about the late '30s, early '40s, the commercial district moved north and businesses moved out. nobody wanted to be here anymore. >> with the exception, that is, of edith macefield and her retired single mother, alice wilson. edith's early life is a bit mysterious. we know she was born in august 1921, and that her parents divorced shortly thereafter. during her 20s, edith disappears -- to england, she says, where she seems to have gotten married once or thrice. but, again, it's hard to tell fact from fiction.

[ camera shutter clicks ] by the 1950s, she's back in ballard, single, and working as a store manager for spic 'n span dry cleaners. edith buys this house for her mother and the two name it whitewood cottage. edith is able to pay off the $3,700 mortgage in just a few years. in her off hours, she babysits for next-door neighbor gayle holland. hi, gayle. you know why i'm here -- to hear about edith. >> i've got a lot to tell you. come on in. our street was very quiet and edith would play games with us. >> so she was older, but she loved to hang out with children? >> oh, yes. everybody liked edith. she would play her saxophone or her trumpet outside. we would sit and listen to her, and she'd let us blow on her instruments. >> what a character! they ask her about her past, st. >> i know she had a son who died

of meningitis. >> edith shares only a few sketchy details -- that the boy was born out of wedlock, that his father was jewish, that james macefield, a much older englishman, married her to help save the boy from the nazis. it's all very complicated. you see, edith was spying on hitler for britain at the time. is it all true? who knows? gayle just loves hanging out with her eccentric neighbor, until her family, like so many others, abandons the area. so, you left and edith stayed. >> yes. it was the early '60s when we moved away. >> in 1976, edith's mother, alice, passes away on the couch in the front room. not long after, edith retires and spends her days watching greta garbo videos and listening to big bands on vinyl. more and more, whitewood cottage stands apart -- her oasis amid

urban blight. by the '90s, homeless -- living in parked cars -- provide an edgy backdrop for the grunge-rock scene. but all the while, developers are slowly gobbling up edith's neighborhood, says real-estate broker paul thomas. >> each time a parcel came up on the market, they'd just quietly acquire it and let it sit in an llc, and they assembled the whole entire block, except for her house. >> it's in early 2006 when edith gets the knock at her door. it's a representative of kg investment management, which wants to put up a shopping mall. the developer makes a proposal they think the 84-year-old can't refuse -- $750,000! what do you think the house was worth? >> $150,000. [ chuckles ] it wasn't worth very much. >> edith could buy five whitewood cottages. even so, she does refuse the offer.

and the bulldozers roll around her. >> i have a picture when they tore everything down in the whole block and it was just her house in the middle of the block. >> reporters catch wind of the story and turn edith into a local folk hero -- a steadfast champion against yuppification, standing up for seattle's old neighborhoods, defying the encroaching chain boutiques, food courts, and those $6 lattes. that's how they portray edith. and that's exactly who barry martin expects when he becomes construction manager of the mall. how did you meet edith? >> i always go visit the neighbors and give them my card so that if they have any problems, they know who to get ahold of, and i walked past her yard and introduced myself. she was actually very pleasant and said she was looking forward to the activity. >> turns out, edith wasn't watching garbo flicks because she "vanted to be alone."

that becomes clear with edith's beauty-shop appointment. she needs a ride, so she calls barry. not exactly what he was thinking when he dropped off his card, but what the heck? he drives her. they get to talking. >> a lot of people thought that she was against development, and that wasn't the case at all. it was more she just didn't want to go through the exercise of having to move. >> indeed, edith actually makes fun of the anti-development types, who, among other things, are trying to get landmark status for the local denny's. edith's view -- things get built, things get torn down. that's the way of the world. it wouldn't be their last car talk. soon, barry's co-workers call him "driving miss daisy." could you rattle off for me some of the errands you were asked to do for her? >> i would take her laundry out to be done. we would go get her lunch. i would take her to all of her doctor's appointments. >> she didn't pay you. >> no. she just needed it.

>> you're not a saint. >> nope. >> but his wife and two high-school-age children surely have the patience of job, when barry spends more and more time at edith's. >> i made her meals three times a day, seven days a week. on the weekends, basically, i'd stay there, and if not, then i had made sure that somebody else was there. >> barry isn't there one night when edith falls and lands in the hospital with broken ribs and a platoon of social workers insisting she should no longer live alone. then tag-teaming executives from the development company show up again with a deed ready to sign and another big fat check. >> they offered her $1 million and actually offered to buy a house for her in ballard and she refused that, also. >> $1 million for a little old granny and a new house in her neighborhood, and she says no. >> yes. >> what would you have done?

>> i would have probably taken the money and had somebody fanning me with big feathers and feeding me figs. >> the 84-year-old seen here turned down $1 million payout. >> it just adds to the edith macefield legend -- a story that can't help but go national. what's infuriating barry is that he believes he's cast as one of the black hats, trying to manipulate old edith into selling out. the truth, he says, is just the opposite. >> i promised her that, um, i wouldn't let them take her away and that she could stay there and die in her house. >> that's a really big promise. >> it is. and it became a lot bigger deal than, you know, i had originally anticipated. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question -- where was america's first indoor shopping mall built?

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edith macefield and her whitewood cottage stand in the way of a shopping mall. barry martin's job is to build that mall. but he's also made it his life's work to keep edith in her home. barry didn't even know edith two years before. now he just doesn't know what to make of her. >> she had a lot of stories to tell and she never really finished a story. >> but, boy, the way she drops names, you'd think she's forrest gump. like hitler -- she met him several times, ended up in a concentration camp, and was sprung by the fuhrer himself. benny goodman -- her cousin, she claimed -- he gave her her clarinet. tommy dorsey, the band leader -- once, when he was short on cash, she bought his sax. mickey rooney -- she taught him dance steps. and so on. barry has one thought -- edith's a wack job. >> i was thinking "crazy old

lady" for a while. >> but in the winter of 2007, edith's health suddenly declines. just as suddenly, the construction manager finds himself doing things he really never signed up for -- helping edith shower, use the bathroom, take her medicine, including insulin shots. a big question occurs to barry -- what happens when the mall is done and he moves to another job? what happens if edith lives to 100? that won't happen. in april 2008, edith is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. she declines treatment and, knowing she'll soon need someone else to make her decisions, gives barry her power of attorney. it's a big responsibility. did you really want it? >> i didn't really want it, and i didn't really understand exactly what all it meant. >> uh-oh. >> yeah, uh-oh. i said, "do you understand the power you're giving me?" and she said, "why do you think i chose you?" >> did you know all along that you were going to get that house? >> no.

i didn't know until after she asked me to become her power of attorney. then she said that she wanted time.do her will at that same >> barry's a bit sheepish, knowing many suspect him of angling for the house from the beginning. but that's her wish -- like her desire to die on the same couch as her mother three decades earlier. and on june 15, 2008, death does come -- as a friend -- to whitewood cottage. >> i promised her that i wouldn't let them take her away and that she could stay there and die in her house. >> does it make you emotional? >> it does. >> why? >> um... because i got to help her end her life the way she wanted to. >> the little house in the big mall is now barry's.

but soon he'll discover that, thanks to a hollywood blockbuster, edith macefield fans will claim it as their own. >> there were people out on the sidewalk taking pictures and leaving little notes and putting up balloons with messages on them. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. you've met barry martin, the construction manager in this story. the answer after the break.

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heir in this "strange inheritance" story. >> it's spring 2009, and barry martin is trying to figure out what to do with his strange inheritance -- a house he helped build a mall around. the owner, edith macefield, had died the year before, and barry assumes memories of her will fade, too. but then disney comes a-calling. it's ready to release an animated feature called "up." it's about a crotchety old man who, just like edith, refuses to sell his house to a developer. disney wants to use edith's house to promote the film. >> they wanted to put balloons on the house for their premiere here in seattle, so they came out and put balloons on the house and took a picture and that's how it became the "up" house. >> did you think it was a good idea? >> i thought it was rather funny, myself, and then after i saw the movie, there's actually some photographs that look very similar to the picture in the movie.

>> soon, edith's cottage and that of character carl fredricksen are associated as one. >> there were people out on the sidewalk taking pictures and leaving little notes and putting up balloons with messages on them. >> and inspirational, it sounds like. >> very. inspirational to different people for different reasons. kids loved it because they thought it was really the house from the movie. you'd see grown-ups crying on the sidewalk. >> she stuck to her guns, you know, even though she could have made a ton of money. >> this woman was kind of the last holdout. she wanted to keep her home, and that's huge. >> it's amazing. i can't believe that she held out. >> but by the time the movie "up" comes out, the nation is in a downer -- the great recession. and barry's real life is anything but a storybook fantasy. >> that was right about when we had our downturn. i was out of work. >> so, barry decides it's time to sell edith's house. she once turned down $1 million for the place, but the window on that offer closed long ago.

>> did she tell you she would be okay with you selling it? >> oh, yeah, and she told me to hold out until i got my price. >> what did you sell it >> i sold it for $310,000. [ cash register dings ] >> what did you do with the money, may i ask? >> paid for my kids to go to school. i invested the money and got money back monthly, and it made my house payment. >> that's not nothing. plus, barry says the new owners planned -- in the spirit of "up" -- to raise edith's house 20 feet off the ground and make a public tribute to her below. but they run out of money, and the house falls into foreclosure. >> what was your role in all this? >> i was hired by the bank to sell the house for them. >> the bank includes a provision in the face of pressure from local community groups who want an homage to their folk hero. >> one of the terms of the sale was that each person was required to memorialize edith in some way. >> 38 offers come in, but it's the 39th that wins --

at $450,000. [ cash register dings ] the buyer? the same folks who offered edith $1 million years before -- kg investments, now the manager of the shopping mall. they plan to knock the house down, eventually. so, ultimately, edith's house went to the organization that wanted to buy it all along. >> well, it's kind of neat in a way because she got what she wished for and the shopping center ended up being able to buy the property at a lot lower price than they originally had offered. >> will they do anything to remember edith? >> the ownership has committed that they'll put up a brass plaque that memorializes edith. >> it will be just one more way the ballard community pays tribute to its folk hero. there's also an annual edith macefield music festival. ♪ you can even get a tattoo of edith's house with the legend underneath -- "steadfast." for the heir in this "strange inheritance" episode,

that's further proof edith was misunderstood. maybe even, he'd discover, by himself. >> you must have learned an awful lot about edith once you started to go through her things. >> i learned a lot more than she had let me know. that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. i don't want to live with

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> barry martin doesn't just inherit edith macefield's home, but everything else she owned. >> wow, you must have learned an awful lot about edith, once you started to go through her things. >> i learned a lot more than she had let me know. >> and enough to question whether all her stories were as wacko as he once thought. >> did she have a vivid imagination, or do you think most of it was real? >> i'm a little -- i'm not

quite -- >> you still don't know. >> i still don't know. exactly. >> what did you find? well, evidence that she was benny goodman's cousin -- this album, inscribed "your cousin, benny goodman." and quite personal notes from a-list actors -- clark gable, katharine hepburn, spencer tracy, and errol flynn. >> there's charlie chaplin. there's tommy and jimmy dorsey. >> okay, okay -- nothing about meeting hitler or being a spy. still, it dawns on barry that the most valuable thing edith bequeathed to him could be her story -- now his. >> i had an agent contact me about writing a book, and she actually talked me into doing it. >> you ever write a book before? >> no, never written a book before, and she got me a ghostwriter, and we did it that way. >> what's the story? >> the story is basically about edith and myself and our little adventure and then the lessons that i learned. >> "under one roof" gets barry a

$75,000 advance from the publisher. and that's not all. >> actually in the process of making a deal with fox searchlight. >> did you ever think you'd be making a book and a movie about all this? >> no. i just about fall down on the floor laughing because it's hysterical to me. >> i think it could work. i'm picturing a "driving miss daisy" type of guy meets a female forrest gump and they go on a real-life "up" adventure. and definitely got to give john ratzenberger the lead. there's a scene in the movie "up" that sounds exactly like one edith might have had with barry. carl fredricksen, the man whose house the real-estate company wants to buy, says to the construction foreman, "tell your boss he can have my house." "really?" asks the foreman. "yeah, when i'm dead," growls carl and slams the door. i'm jamie colby for

"strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching, and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> a brilliant young architect designs this gem... >> tony! oh, my gosh, look at all this light! >> ...long before he's a legend of design. >> pietro belluschi. innovative architectural designs. they evoke the grandeur of this land. >> his kid becomes an architect, too. >> i didn't want to be "the son of." >> it's a blessing and a curse. >> and that's what i went through for 40 years. >> will he let his father's masterpiece face the wrecking ball? >> did your heart stop? >> absolutely, my heart stopped. >> or breathe new life into it after he's gone? >> before your dad died, did he tell you he was proud of you? [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm headed into portland, oregon. i'm meeting a man whose strange inheritance is not a family heirloom found in an attic, but an entire house, a house that perfectly frames an age-old problem -- how does a son follow in his father's footsteps and still escape his shadow? >> my name is tony belluschi. i'm an architect, like my father pietro. this house is among the many things he designed in his illustrious career. i only figured out what it meant to both of us long after he was gone. >> tony's asked me to meet him here in downtown portland. >> hi, jamie. how are you? >> i usually meet people in their homes. why have you brought me here? >> i'd like to show you a building my father designed. >> that building is the 12-story equitable, one of america's

first glass box towers, built back in 1948. >> it became one of the most iconic buildings not only in portland, but in the country. >> tony's father pietro would go on to design and work on hundreds of landmark buildings, including new york's pan am building, the bank of america tower, and st. mary's cathedral in san francisco, new york's juilliard school of music, and the zion lutheran church here in portland. and like so many american success stories, this one begins with an immigrant determined to make the big time. a native of rome, pietro belluschi arrives in portland in 1925. three years later, at age 28, he's already the chief designer at the a.e. doyle architecture firm. >> he of course would work for 15 hours a day in order to prove himself. and he just kept getting

raised and raised and raised. >> in the late 1930s, pietro begins designing homes around portland featuring locally sourced materials, such as spruce, fir, cedar, and stone. his twist on regional modern architecture -- structures that harmonize with their natural settings -- is instantly acclaimed. >> i was very much impressed by the woods and the wildness of the surroundings. >> he became almost like a pioneer that knew more about the local materials than the people who were there and took them for granted. >> in 1948, the same year pietro finishes the equitable building, he completes this house in portland for the well-to-do burkes family. >> how innovative was that design for the time architecturally? >> very innovative. the combination of the use of woods, the overhangs,

woven wood ceilings, cork floors, large floor-to-ceiling windows -- he was applauded in many magazines, including ones from italy. >> pietro considers the home his favorite residential work. soon enough, the talented architect, now a husband and father of two sons, is on the map. in 1951, m.i.t. in cambridge, massachusetts, appoints him its dean of architecture. around the same time, he begins grooming tony in the craft. >> he was my mentor, and therefore i got to know his architectural vocabulary and philosophy better than anyone. >> pietro retires from m.i.t. in 1965, but he's still in demand. boston's one financial center, the meyerhoff symphony hall in baltimore, and many more.

>> he became an international celebrity. >> do you remember feeling that your dad was special? >> i kind of picked that up when i was in college, and he was the commencement speaker. and i said, "whoa." >> it's a blessing and a curse. >> and that's what i went through for 40 years. >> and therein lie tony's mixed emotions over his strange inheritance. he becomes destined to receive it when his father, probably sitting at his boston drafting table, gets a long-distance call from portland. it's mrs. burkes, owner of that home he'd designed 25 years ago and never forgot. the widow tells pietro she's putting it up for sale. >> he flew out and agreed to buy it on that spot. >> that's how much it meant to him. >> absolutely. >> it's 1973 when pietro and his second wife, marjorie,

return to his beloved oregon to live in the house he designed as a young man. but his son tony, who's just starting his own architecture career, wants nothing to do with it or portland. >> i said, "i need my own space, and i don't want to be within a thousand-mile radius of my father and his practice. >> why not just ride his coattails? >> because i had to make it on my own first. i wanted to earn it myself. i didn't want to be "the son of." >> in portland or boston, he's pietro's kid, so tony settles in chicago. with the last name belluschi, in the second city he's more likely to be confused with this guy than his own father. over time, tony builds up an impressive portfolio -- cleveland's galleria at erieview in 1987, and the american airlines terminal at o'hare airport in 1988. >> did you eventually establish yourself separate and apart from your dad's legacy

and reputation? >> that's, uh, been a lifelong pursuit of mine. >> but the son will soon come to think about his famous dad in a new light. >> for once, i was able to make the decisions without his input. >> and a father finally reveals his true feelings to his son. >> how'd it make you feel? >> um, sad, because he couldn't say that in person. >> a lot of dads can't. >> i understand. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. in addition to being an architect, frank lloyd wright was also well known in what other field? was it... the answer when we return. ♪ come on, wake up!!! come on, why ya sleepin'? come on! what time is it? it's go time. come on. let's go, let's go, let's go. woooo hoooo!! yeah!! i feel like i went to bed an hour ago.

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[ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] >> so... it's "a." wright was a very active japanese art dealer. during the great depression, he made more money from the art trade than he did as an architect. >> in the early 1990s, architect tony belluschi is still trying to avoid being eclipsed by the shadow of his father, internationally famed architect pietro belluschi. >> i see a lot of things full of meaning and full of poetry. >> pietro considers his finest

residential accomplishment to be here in portland, a home he designed in the '40s, purchased in the '70s, and cherished ever since. >> he loved the house. >> loved the house. absolutely, he did. >> and over the years, pietro and his son tony often discuss renovating it. >> he and i sat down and actually did some drawings together about how to add a second level onto this house. >> but the father/son project never materializes. son tony is too busy in chicago, expanding his portfolio, while pietro continues to receive high praise for his work, even into his 90s, including a national medal of the arts, bestowed by president george h.w. bush in 1991. >> pietro belluschi. innovative architectural designs. they evoke the grandeur of this land, particularly the pacific northwest. [ applause ]

>> in 1994, pietro passes away at the age of 94. his life's work includes over 1,000 buildings. his widow, second wife marjorie, tony's stepmom, continues to live in the architectural masterpiece in portland. but by the early 2000s, the home has fallen into considerable disrepair. that woven wood ceiling in the bedroom is coming apart. the roof is leaking. it's a mess. marjorie begs tony to come back to portland and fix it up. but portland, and being compared to his father, is exactly what tony has avoided for his entire adult life. >> i was always of the theory that you can never go home. >> tony agrees to fix the roof, but focuses mostly

on his career, adding to his impressive list of designs, in chicago and around the globe -- france, turkey, saudi arabia. after marjorie dies in 2009, tony and his brother peter inherit the house that meant so much to their father. but what to do with the old, neglected home? the brothers bring in some real estate agents for a market evaluation. >> were going through the house with several realtors, and one of them kind of said to me in a low tone, "you know, this house is a possible tear-down." >> did your heart stop? >> absolutely, my heart stopped. i looked at her in total disbelief, and in that moment i said, "over my dead body." >> you weren't gonna let it happen. >> absolutely not. >> so tony buys out his brother and dedicates himself to restoring their father's cherished home to its former glory. >> was it that special?

>> it was that special. and that's when i said, i must commit to it. >> but once word gets out, tony feels some unexpected heat. you might think local preservation types would rejoice that pietro belluschi's very own son was coming to the rescue of his work. not exactly. peggy moretti is executive director of restore oregon. >> there are a million things that can get mucked up when you tackle a historic renovation. you always worry about, good intentions don't always translate very well. >> tony's intention is to come up with a design that honors his late father but satisfies his own creative vision. it calls for some spiritual collaboration. >> i channeled him the entire time i was working on the house. what do i do, and what would he do? >> but guess what? after consulting with his father's spirit, tony recognizes who's boss.

>> and we had a meeting of the minds and did whatever i felt was the right -- for once, i was able to make the decisions without his input. >> by the spring of 2010, the restoration is in full swing. it's an exhausting process for both tony and his wife, marti. >> we lived and commuted from chicago. every two weeks i flew out here for two weeks and went back to chicago. >> in september 2012, after two long years and $935,000, the work is finally complete. >> i've put so much of my blood, sweat and tears into this house, probably more than he did to build the original house for the original client. >> coming up... >> oh, my gosh, look at all this light. >> i take the grand tour. and tony's career takes an unplanned turn. >> here's another quiz question for you. built in 1902, macy's flagship store in new york was the first

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[ wind howls ] >> so, macy's flagship store in new york was the first building with what architectural feature? it's "b," the escalator. and some of the old wooden ones are still in use. >> lots of kids inherit their parents' home, but architect tony belluschi doesn't just get dad's house. he gets a broken-down monument to northwest design built by his legendary father. by 2013, tony's restoration of pietro belluschi's

masterpiece is complete. >> every single square inch of this house has been refreshed, restored, or added onto. >> tony expands the home by more than 700 square feet, adding a bedroom, garage, art gallery, and he replaces his father's shed with a new guesthouse. but god is in the details. and today, i get to see the final product. >> oh, my goodness, this is a kitchen i could make magic in. >> well, this is a completely reborn kitchen. everything had to go. the original one from the '40s ended right here, was only this little alcove here. >> and of course tony rehabs that woven wood ceiling in the master bedroom. >> no way! that's real wood? >> this is real wood. >> [ gasps ] >> it's made up of cedar, spruce, and hemlock,

and it was woven together very carefully in place. >> i want this. >> tony's updates dovetail with the timeless elements conceived by his father 65 years before. >> the fireplace is magnificent. >> this was part of the original design. it's the same stone my father used from this stone wall out here, and so he tied the outdoors to the indoors. >> it's so beautifully done. well, it looks to me like you own portland. this is some view. >> this is why we call this the magic place. you never get tired of looking at this. >> i wouldn't. what would your dad say if he saw this place today? >> he would like it a lot better than the way it was when i inherited it. >> really? >> i don't know anybody who doesn't love this house. >> count peggy moretti among local preservationists no longer worried about what tony might do to his dad's house.

>> pietro left a mark here in the northwest. he's a very special legacy, and tony added his own mark on the place in a perfect kind of way. >> her group even honors tony with an award for restoration excellence. >> how proud are you to own this house? >> well, it's a dream come true in many respects. >> it's a gift to see it. >> well, thank you. >> so that's the end of my tour and of tony's "strange inheritance" story, right? not so fast. for tony, as it turns out, this was just the beginning. >> i didn't plan to do this. i wanted to have my own quiet life. >> next, the surprising twist tony never saw coming. >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website...

[ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] >> now back to "strange inheritance."

>> for years, tony belluschi commutes from his chicago home to portland to renovate his strange inheritance, this beloved architectural gem designed by his father, pietro. he ends up in a good place, the one he never expected. >> i've sold my practice in chicago, i've moved here. >> you think you'll ever decide, "i made a mistake"? >> absolutely 110% no. this, all of a sudden, is not my father's house. it's our house. and to me, it's something that has become part of us. we don't want to sell it, and it's not going to be on the market as long as i'm breathing air. >> he won't likely be hurting for work anytime soon. turns out the owners of other homes his dad designed are now calling him. >> it's very, very important to sort of protect the legacy and the stewardship of these homes.

>> beginning with aric wood, who lives in the first house tony's father ever designed, back in the late 1930s. this one, too, falls into disrepair. >> we restored it to the new, just like it was in 1938. >> tony really was able to channel his father's thinking about the house. i wake up every morning just amazed at the solace of the place. >> the phone doesn't stop ringing. >> people come to me thinking maybe i can help them with their project, help them restore a house. i didn't plan to do this coming back to portland. i wanted to have my own quiet life. but it doesn't exist here. >> what's the next step? where do you go from here? >> now our big project is the pietro belluschi resource center. we hope it'll become a place where people will come to portland to study pacific northwest mid-century modern. >> that is a real, professional

way of further enhancing the legacy of my father. >> such a paradox, this "strange inheritance" tale. an architect, the son of one of the profession's dazzling stars, keeps far away from the long shadows his father cast. for only once he makes his own name can he turn to what may be his life's most rewarding work -- preserving the legacy of the legend now departed. >> before your dad died, did he tell you he was proud of you? >> he did. in fact, i have a letter he wrote. he expressed himself in writing a way he couldn't in words. "dear tony, i don't think i've ever told you how proud i am of you, how pleased of your obvious qualities of spiritual awareness, of your sensitive attitude towards people. your loving father."

>> how'd it make you feel? >> very happy. very fulfilling. um, sad because he couldn't say that in person. >> a lot of dads can't. >> i understand. but i also loved him and understood him. the older i got, the more i realized how valuable a mentor he was to my life. >> pietro once declined to build in a wooded area near m.i.t. called the pines. asked why, he replied, "we could never design a building as beautiful as the trees." that inspired the tribute tony designed for his dad after he died -- this bench along a trail not far from the house that became tony's strange inheritance. check out the plaque. "we never could design a building as beautiful as the trees."

i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. >> amid the terror of hitler's bombs... >> the airpower of the nazis was turned against britain. >> ...an unmistakable voice rallies the brits. >> i have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. >> you think churchill saw his lisp as beneficial? >> what hitlerism is suffering in libya is only a sample and a foretaste of what we have got to give him and his accomplices. >> it was such an inspiring speech that it just worked magic on people. >> his dental tech worked magic, too. >> churchill said to my father, "you're not going anywhere. you're staying here with me." >> how did he earn a place in history? >> when you opened the box, what did you see? >> well, i saw some teeth staring at me. >> fighting tooth and nail,

dentistry's finest hour. >> these are the teeth that won the second world war. >> any way to get a closer look? >> for you, yes. >> hello. i'm jamie colby. and, today, i'm in the back seat of one of those fabulous london taxis. after crossing the pond, i figured i'll leave the driving to somebody else. i'm here to meet an heir whose father played a big part in world history through his connection to great britain's indispensable leader in world war ii, the one-and-only winston churchill. and i have to warn you folks, they don't call this show "strange inheritance" for nothing. >> my name is nigel cudlipp.

my father, derek, was a master dental technician here in london for over 50 years. he died in 2007 and left his most important work to me. >> hello. i'm jamie. >> nice to meet you, jamie. i'm nigel. welcome to london and welcome to limehouse. >> thank you. it's a beautiful spot. is this where you live? >> we do. we live on a yacht out there. please come this way. >> thank you. nigel's career is in finance, originally for posh resorts and hotels and now for a museum here in london. but i didn't climb aboard nigel's yacht to talk about that. when i was told that i was coming to london to see teeth, i thought it was crazy. do you think it's crazy? >> it might look that way to many people, but churchill was a very, very important man. >> the most important man on the planet, arguably, when, in the spring of 1940, as hitler's forces overrun europe, winston churchill becomes prime minister. and his words become his country's most powerful weapon. >> never in the field of human

conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. >> and never in the field of human dentistry, nigel cudlipp believes, was so much owed by so many to one technician, his father. derek cudlipp is born in 1915 and raised in a modest home in south london. >> i don't think he got on terribly well at school, because he was a quiet, very, very shy man. >> his schoolmasters steer derek to apprentice as a technician making dentures. darn good career advice in the pre-fluoride days, when most britons lose at least some of their adult teeth and end up needing dentures. derek cudlipp discovers he really likes the exacting work, and he's a whiz at it. >> the nature of his personality was somebody who was a perfectionist, and i think, in dentistry, he found an outlet

for that part of his personality. >> in 1936, derek is snapped up by a prominent dentist, in london's fashionable cavendish square, named wilfred fish. >> fish was at the top of the profession, dentistry to royalty and to many, many important people of the day. >> you think your dad aspired to have famous clients? >> no. definitely not. i think his pleasure came from the quality of the work that he produced. my father was a frustrated artist, to be honest with you, but he was absolutely passionate about what he did. >> one of dr. fish's dental patients is winston churchill. a backbencher in parliament, churchill issues dire warnings about the growing threat of adolf hitler and nazi germany. >> [ shouting in german ] [ crowd cheering ] >> now they are rearming with the utmost speed, and ready to their hands is this new lamentable weapon of the air.

>> from the air, hitler's luftwaffe rains down terror on london in the fall of 1940. with the blitz as a backdrop, derek marries his bride, dorothy. >> they went on a honeymoon, they said, on a train with the bombs falling all around them. >> for 76 consecutive days, london is bombed day and night. in the middle of it all, derek cudlipp gets the assignment of a lifetime. >> churchill said to my father, "you're not going anywhere. you're staying here with me." >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer when we return.

>> it's "c." he called it "the black dog." churchill also had periods of manic high energy. some believe he was a manic-depressive. [ bombs whistling ] >> in 1940, as londoners struggle under a nazi onslaught from the sky, one familiar voice bolsters their resolve, that of prime minister winston churchill.

>> you ask, what is our policy? i will say it is to wage war by sea, land, and air with all our might and with all the strength that god can give us. >> people were losing their sons, their fathers, and somehow, he managed to rally the country. >> we ask no favors of the enemy. >> he will become perhaps the most effective order ever to speak into a microphone. >> we will mete out, of the germans, the measure and more than the measure they have meted out to us. >> but churchill was not a natural-born public speaker. from childhood, he struggles with a lisp. >> he de every effort to master it. >> but phil reed, director of the churchill war room museum, says by the time he reaches 10 downing street, the prime minister has more than mastered his lisp. he's embracing it. >> what hitlerism is suffering in libya is only a sample and a foretaste of what we have got to give him and his accomplices

wherever this war should lead us. >> do you think churchill saw his lisp as beneficial or a hindrance to his power? >> i think, in the war, he saw it as being something that characterized him and added a bit of humor to it. remember, this is a man who feigned not to be able to pronounce the word nazis. always referred to them as "nazzies." and it was his way of making fools of them. >> wounds have been inflicted upon the nazi tyranny and the system, which have bitten deep and will fester and inflame. >> how important were his words? >> they were immensely important, because churchill had to tell it like it was, which is, "it's gonna be tough. a lot of people are gonna be killed. but you got to stick with it." and that really did genuinely inspire people with a bit of backbone, basically. >> i have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. >> he was such an inspiring

speaker. the manner in which he delivered, it just worked magic on people. >> churchill is a virtuoso performer. like the pegs, bridge, and strings of a fine stradivarius, the components of his instrument -- his voice, breath, tongue, and teeth -- have to be just so. >> he roused people to the flag, if you like, with his voice and the way he delivered his lines. >> unfortunately, reports nigel cudlipp, the heir in this "strange inheritance" story, churchill treats his dentures not the way maestros treat their violins, but how british rock stars treat their guitars. >> churchill, when he was angry, would put his thumb under the teeth and flick them across the room. and my father always said that he could tell how well the war was going by how far they flew across the room. things were really bad when they hit the opposite wall. nigel's dad, derek, a mild-mannered 26-year-old dental

tech, is churchill's denture repairman. >> my father would be quite anxious about the whole thing. churchill was not a man who was to be messed with. he was quite an impatient man. in the dentist's chair, he would have a cigar in one hand, a brandy in the other. >> and an odd demand well-suited to derek's skills -- make sure those false teeth keep churchill sounding like churchill. >> he is now but a lackey and a serf, the merest utensil of his master's will. [ cheers and applause ] >> do you know, technically, what your father did for winston churchill that was different than normal? >> my father invented, with sir wilfred fish, this distinctive plate that would retain his lisp and his natural speaking voice. >> nigel tells me that i can see what he's talking about at london's royal college of surgeons. hi, sam. i'm jamie colby. >> hi, jamie.

>> sam alberti is the director. i guess when you donate yourself to science, you might end up in a place like this. sam brings me right to the winston churchill display. >> wilfred fish, the dentist, designed the teeth, but, of course, it was the technician who made them. and churchill was devoted to derek cudlipp. the star item is this little item here. >> "made for and worn by sir winston churchill." >> that's right. >> any way to get a closer look? >> for you, i'll take them out. >> you would? >> yes. he wanted to maintain churchill's very particular oratorial style. >> a lisp. >> precisely. in order to do this, he added clasps to the side. and these would just keep the dentures slightly proud of the palate and allow a flow of saliva around them. and this maintained that very famous lisp. >> you think any dental technician could have made those? >> no. these are extremely rare and very, very difficult to make. >> churchill makes clear he

knows that when derek cudlipp breaks some personal news to the prime minister. >> he told churchill that his papers had come through to go into the army, and churchill literally just tore them to shreds in front of my father's face and said to my father, "you're not going anywhere. you're staying here with me." >> because of his dentures. >> because of his dentures, yes. >> you ask, what is our aim? i can answer in one word -- victory. >> this is churchill's office in which he delivered four of his speeches during the war. >> the secret bunker under the streets of westminster is now a museum. >> victory at all costs. victory in spite of all terror. victory however long and hard the road may be. >> the last of the bombing raids happen, and they left everything that you see. and so, for instance, this here is churchill's original chair, and you are going to sit in it. >> oh, my god. you can feel the unimaginable pressure on churchill.

>> churchill was obviously pretty tense. if you just feel that notch at the end there -- that he made with the ring that he wore on that hand, and he belted it like that. [ bells tolling ] >> but his voice never cracks. >> this is your victory. >> may 8, 1945, "v-e day." >> victory of the cause of freedom in every land. [ crowd cheering ] >> when derek's wartime post with churchill ends, he keeps two spare sets of the prime minister's dentures. he goes on to open his own prosthetics service. >> he was probably recognized to be the best in the country. all his clients came to him, word of mouth. >> word of mouth? >> yeah, very much so. >> [ laughs ] >> yes, very much so. >> decades later, nigel's father donates one of his sets of

churchill's dentures to the royal college of surgeons. >> it was something he was very proud of, but, of course, it was a quiet donation, which suited him. >> but nigel thinks his dad deserves a more prominent place in the history books. so when derek dies, in 2007, and nigel inherits the remaining set of churchill's dentures, he stows them in his cufflinks drawer. >> they're not something that you have on the mantelpiece. and i kept thinking to myself, "i must do something about these. they're just sitting there." >> was it about the money? >> it was more about recognition for my father. he was too shy during his life to mention them. >> coming up, nigel's plan to get his dad that recognition. how much interest were you able to generate in these? >> you know, the term is "gone viral," and it did. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. which american revolutionary war figure was also a practicing

dentist? the answer in a moment. ♪

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he wants to figure out how to use them to honor his dad. >> i wanted to tell the people about my father, because he was too shy during his life to mention them. >> since his dad already donated one set to a british museum, nigel dreams up another plan. he figures he'll find someone to auction them off. he says he doesn't need the money. he just wants to get his father in the newspapers. >> i could never have sold them while he was alive, 'cause he wouldn't have liked the publicity. >> hello, andrew. i'm jamie. >> oh, hello. so very pleased to meet you. >> nigel thinks he's found the man to finally get him some -- appraiser andrew bullock of keys auctions in norfolk, england. i have a place over here. andrew's sold a lot of odd churchill items -- unsmoked cigars, playing cards, cigar boxes -- but never imagines he'd receive a commission like the one from nigel. when you opened the box, what did you see? >> well, i saw some teeth

staring at me. >> andrew immediately knows he can get nigel exactly what he wants. how much interest were you able to generate in these? >> you know, the term is "gone viral," and it did. >> so it's global. >> it was worldwide, and it got to be sort of quite a joke that the next phone call was gonna be for andrew from timbuktu or somewhere. a lot of people actually found the whole episode a little bit macabre, where others were absolutely fascinated. when something of interest arrives for auction, it may not necessarily be of great value, but there's very often a wonderful story behind it. >> it's a wild story. >> it is. churchill had a lisp, and these partial dentures were specially designed to maintain that lisp. so it was, you know, of paramount importance. >> word got out. >> yep. i came across it in the himalayan times newspaper. and i thought, "probably now,

we've done enough p.r." >> coming up, the bidding begins. >> and it just went rapidly, rapidly, rapidly up. >> who buys dentures? >> well, a very, very good question. >> and one we'll answer next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

>> now back to strange inheritance." >> if the british empire and its commonwealth last for 1,000 years, men will still say this was their finest hour. >> prime minister winston churchill's voice helped save europe. dental technician derek cudlipp helped save that voice. and when he leaves his son, nigel, the teeth that won world war ii, well, that's one

strange inheritance. no surprise that, after nigel puts churchill's chompers up for auction, the story goes viral. in fact, that's the point. how do you think your father would have felt about so many people knowing about the dentures? >> i mean, he would have been secretly proud, but because he was so shy, he needed someone to speak for him, so i'm pleased to have done that. >> as history called derek cudlipp to fashion false teeth that preserved churchill's lisp, nigel calls andrew bullock to sell them. did you think they were immediately something that you would take to auction? >> oh, yes, yes. one felt sort of quite honored to be handling something to do with a great man. >> after andrew examines the dentures, he estimates their value at around £5,000, or $8,000. they were solid gold. >> yes. i did joke that i thought they would actually fetch more than the scrap price

for gold. >> what did the bidding start at? >> i started it at £3,800. >> that's about $5,800. but it didn't stay there long. >> and it just went rapidly, rapidly, rapidly up, until the hammer fell at £15,200. >> or about 24,000 bucks. the buyer? george ridgeon, a retired english fireman willing to pay three times what andrew pect were you smiling? >> we smiled. [ both laugh ] >> more smiles may come in this toothy tale, courtesy of nigel's 18-year-old daughter, lauren. >> i was going through a few pieces, and this was one of the books that i came across. >> in june of 2015, she discovers yet another set of gold dentures in a box of jewelry which she inherited from nigel's mother. um, ick. so, there's another mystery.

>> they wouldn't have just been left there, and i would like to think that they belonged to somebody that's quite important, but... >> if they do, nigel and his daughter say expect to hear from them again -- a "strange inheritance" story for another day. six months after nigel's auction, a third set of churchill's dentures surfaced and sold for $25,000. so, the fireman who bought the teeth that won world war ii tried to resell nigel's inheritance on a british tv game show. but when the highest offer came in at only about $7,800, the fireman said, "no deal." i'd tell him, "don't give up." as churchill once famously said, "success consists of going from failure toailure without loss of enthusiasm." i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching

this special edition of "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. >> the heyday of hollywood. >> it was exciting. bette davis, marilyn monroe, joan crawford. >> a star-struck teen bit by the bug. >> before there were paparazzi, there was jack kuster. >> this autograph hound takes names like no other... >> elvis and, oh my gosh, robert redford. >> you name it, all of them. >> it's probably the best collection in the world. >> ...and leaves his stunned heir a lot to sort out. >> what, in your wildest dreams, is this collection worth? [ theme music plays ] ♪