Can the 'Up' House be Saved?

A charming 115-year-old farmhouse wedged in among office buildings in Seattle - and part of the inspiration behind the hit film "Up" - is in jeopardy.

The home's owner, Edith Macefield, turned down an offer of $1 million for the property in 2006. Unable to move her, commercial developers built up around her. It made her a local hero.

Macefield died in 2008, and control of her home went to her estate. Recently, the property went into foreclosure. It must be sold within 90 days or torn down.

Potential buyers are plentiful, but, says real estate broker Paul Thomas, the property is proving difficult to bring up to code at a reasonable cost.

The winning bidders for the property was a mother/daughter duo, who hoped to turn the home into a pie shop, but they, as well as other potential new owners, "each ran into so many roadblocks with city regulations, so many red flags and red tape, that they concluded that they just couldn't make a go of it in any sort of way that ... didn't involve just throwing away huge amount of money."

But don't cry just yet.

"I think the odds of it being torn down are really small," Thomas says. "I've just as of yesterday started to receive proposals from people who are interested in receiving the house as a donation, and then they'll move it somewhere else."

Barry Martin, who was in charge of building the mall around the home but became close with Macefield, penning Under One Roof as a result, doesn't believe that Macefield would be devastated if the house came down.

"To her it was the house, it was a home, but that's really all it was. She wanted to die there because that's what she was used to ... That's where her mother died. She said, '20 years from now, they'll be tearing this building down to build something new, and that's just progress' ... She was okay with that."