torch, lou. you will receive an autograpped copy. good night from new york. >> 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. ♪ [brother] any last words?

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>> 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. potsch: you each drive a ford pickup, right?

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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. today, we're out here with some big news about type 2 diabetes. you have type 2 diabetes, right? yes. so let me ask you this... how does diabetes affect your heart? it doesn't, does it? actually, it does.

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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. >> 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, and, oh, the stories she tells. >> 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 to redo her will at that same time. >> 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. potsch: you each drive a ford pickup, right? (in unison) russ, leland, gary: yes. gary: i have a ford f-150. michael: i've always been a ford guy. potsch: then i have a real treat for you today. michael: awesome. potsch: i'm going to show you a next generation pickup. michael: let's do this. potsch: this new truck now has a cornerstep built right into the bumper. gary: super cool. potsch: the bed is made of high-strength steel, which is less susceptible to punctures than aluminum. jim: aluminum is great for a lot of things,

but maybe not the bed of a truck. potsch: and best of all, this new truck is actually- gary: (all laughing) oh my... potsch: the current chevy silverado. gary: i'm speechless. gary: this puts my ford truck to shame. james: i'll tell you, i might be a chevy guy now. (laughing)

>> it's "a", john ratzenberger. just a coincidence he's a dead ringer for barry martin, the

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 for? >> 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. ♪ [vo] progress is seizing the moment. your summer moment awaits you now that the summer of audi sales event is here. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the summer of audi sales event.

for her compassion and care. he spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. but to help others, they first had to protect themselves. i have afib. even for a nurse, it's complicated... and it puts me at higher risk of stroke. that would be devastating. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself.

once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. xarelto®... to help keep me protected. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner... ...significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. it has similar effectiveness to warfarin. xarelto® works differently. warfarin interferes with at least 6 blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor interacting with less of your body's natural blood-clotting function. for afib patients well-managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you've had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle-related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical

or dental procedures... ...and before starting xarelto®-about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. it's important to learn all you can... ...to help protect yourself from a stroke. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. there's more to know™. >> 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. >> i'm bob massi. for 32 years, i've been practicing law and living in las vegas. i help people with all sorts of real-estate problems, from trying to save their homes to closing major deals. eight years ago, 6,000 people a month moved here, looking for employment and affordable homes. little did anyone know that we would become ground zero for the american real-estate crisis. now, it's a different story. the american dream is back. we're gonna meet real people who faced the same problems as millions across america, and we'll dive deep into a city on the rebound because las vegas was a microcosm of america, and now vegas is back. [ woman vocalizing ]