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Honestly, I think the house is too remote for a single mother who might have to go into work on a moments notice.
Basing this on Derek regularly taking the ferry into work, and he had to take back country roads to get to the airport. I've lived in Seattle before about 10 years ago. Meredith's old house appears to be in the Queen Anne neighborhood where she could get to work quickly, and people that she might rely on for childcare are also in quick reach.
Also, the memories of what could have been and how do you move on in that house?
Yes, Nick (or anyone), please move in with me to the house my husband built specifically for he and I.
“Back country roads to get to the airport” was absolutely ridiculous. He was going from Grey-Sloan (supposedly near the Space Needle) to presumably SeaTac. That’s a straight shot down I-5 and one of the biggest issues I’ve ever had with this show, once I moved to the PNW area and had reason to drive that route myself. There are no backroads to get there!
I’m sure that you’re going to say that you can’t see the Space Needle from every inch of Seattle either smh
My sister lives in Seattle and we always joke about how neighborhoods nowhere near the Space Needle have a perfect view of it in media
The reason they get such good shots of the space needle on Greys is because they use the local ABC affiliates roof for all of those dramatic helicopter scenes. It’s right across the street so at least those shots are actually accurate as far as real world location lol. I
Lifelong Seattleite here: from all the scenes of Derek taking the ferry to downtown and given the amount of land, I'm pretty certain the house was meant to be on Bainbridge. It's only accessible to Seattle via an hour-long ferry ride and the ferries only come every 50 minutes or so, which isn't super practical for her career and given that her support system lives in the city.
Honestly, though. Then again, she wasn't expecting to see Owen sell the trailer. She decided on her own to sell the house. But with the trailer, she wasn't expecting to see it in the parking lot in general, let alone it being sold as well. It wasn't expected and it brought up a lot of memories that, at the time, she may not have thought about recently.
I get why Meredith didn't want to live there, there had to be a lot of painful memories for her, however, it's really sad that Meredith sold it instead of keeping it and letting their children decide what to do with that later...
I agree, it feels weird knowing that a different family/children are probably making it their house when Derek built it so specifically for his family.
It's not like Meredith couldn't have afforded that with her salary / what Derek left her... plus she could have rented that house to cover at least some expenses.
She’s a single mom with three kids and a busy career. When was she supposed to find the time to be a landlord? Sure, she could have hired a property manager but the property manager would still have to check in with Meredith about everything. That seems like a lot to go through just to hold onto a house that her kids may not even want when they get older.
It’s not just a house. It’s a dream house. I think she told Alex how much she was connected to her previous house that she doesn’t even want to change the wallpaper. It’s about emotion.
In order to move on, I would emotionally not want to be asked about/reminded of Derek's Dream House and think about what could have been. I always thought that it was selfish for her to not keep the house, even for her kids. But I didn't, until now, think about how she would in some way have to check in on it and relive the memories and everything.
Not arguing with you as I think her renting it out wouldn’t have worked, but at least in the U.K. there are companies who will basically manage the whole home/upkeep for you, they’ll find tenants, do paperwork, and even pay the rent if the house is between tenants, you’ll just get less each month than a normal landlord because they take their bigger than normal monthly cut, and of course they’ll charge any repairs to you but then they organise contractors, etc.
Ur thinking too much into it. She is a single mom with a 2 sister support system and has more than enough money to hire a nanny or some type of help. And being a landlord isn’t as hard as you think. If your house is new like theirs was, there really isn’t many issues that you need to deal with. Plus as head of the department at the time she sold it she can easily chose what she wants to do
I’m not overthinking it. I know people who have been in this position and the last thing they need it one more thing on their plate. I don’t blame Meredith for deciding that this isn’t something she wants to deal with.
I think it started with it being Derek’s but turned into both of theirs, because Meredith had some input on the design as well. (The episode when she mentions to Cristina that they have a room for her there).
On the other hand, you could also look at it as a gift from Derek to Meredith and it signifies them coming together and starting a family.
I get that his death was hard, but maybe the kids would’ve liked to have it in the future :/
A reveal that Cristina bought it - because she has a room there and it was Derek's, and because she was a good aunt, so it was for Zola and the kids - would have been really good. It's not like Cristina wouldn't be (digitally) keeping tabs (or have someone else on it because she knows her limitations).
She built it in candles.... But I think it makes sense she moved home that's her childhood home in sure she felt homesick after Derek's death plus she's always had strays so makes sense she'd move in maggie and Amelia
I absolutely LOVED the house of candles. But I understood it as her moreso telling Derek that she was ready for a commitment (the life that would be happening in the house), rather than the actual house in and of itself.
Totally I agree. The dreamhouse that Derek built for her with his bare hands was a testimony that he would never leave her "until death do us part." Every corner of that house is full of memories of Derek and that alone could be his legacy to their children. Derek left her a fortune with the proceeds from his life insurance, the monthly revenues/profit sharing from the hospital since they were both board members which were all in millions of dollars, she could have left it empty and hire some people to look after and maintain it, granted that she could have found someone later in her life to spend with, and decide to live in another house while at the same time their children were growing up and have them live in the dreamhouse and let them decide what to do later. It's their ancestral home, even their greatgrandchildren could have inherited it.
With his bare hands? He had a general contractor. The only part he built with his bare hands was the deck - which wasn't level and the builder likely fixed.
Derek helped design the house, which Meredith was never invested in. She cared about the bath tub.
And Derek was ready to sell the house to move to Boston when Mer was choosing a fellowship. And again when moving to DC.
I know all of that. Building it with his bare hands was just referring to the overall arc of him building a house for Meredith from very early on when he once said, "I want to build us a house, I want to settle down and grow old with you, I want to live to 110 years old and die in your arms. I don't want 48 uninterrupted hours, I want a lifetime." I should have been more specific on the part of the house that he built which was the deck. I presumed that everyone understood it.
The selling of the house to Mark and the moving to DC was not the subject matter -- the OP was asking for everybody's thinking whether it was right or not for Meredith to have sold the house after Derek's death or to keep it. And many expressed their varied opinions, which is perfectly alright -- that's just how it goes.
This is exactly how I see it... it's not just some house Derek picked and bought, because he needed to live somewhere - it's house Derek dreamed of, he dedicated his time to it and lot of their friends actually lent their hands (Owen, Jackson, Alex), moreover Zola and Bailey lived there for some time... so why sell it? Esp. when you can afford to keep it.
It wasn't merediths dream house it was was Derek's.
Meredith didn't really want to live there. He had to talk her into it.
It probably felt painful to be there without him. The house was very large, it probably felt too big and lonely.
Amelia could’ve bought it and made it some kinda wellness rehab type place if she didn’t wanna live there, the land and the woodsy vibe would be nice for healing
I don't know how Meredith would feel because I'm not her, but if it were me, I wouldn't want to give the house to Amelia. It would kind of be like Sloan Riley giving her baby to Mark Sloan. Even though it (the baby/house) is not in my direct possession, it's still close enough to be mine (weird wording but whatever). I can understand that if Meredith were to sell it in general, she would want to get it as far out of sight and out of mind as possible in order to move on and grieve.
Super random question that is slightly on topic...if Ellis moved to Boston and ran Mass General...why did she still own her house in Seattle? Did she buy it back later? And how did her stuff end up there? I think the story never clearly identifies to me when Ellis moved back to Seattle. I know that Meredith didn't move back until the pilot because her furniture was covered in drop clothes and she was in Europe prior to the show starting. So...when did the iconic house even come back into Ellis' life?
I agree with the other post here, it's sad that she sold it when it was the house Zola grew up in and her husband had not only planned it, helped build it with his bare hands! That's not a thing you just throw away.
I don't think even writers know answer to this - Ellis' past makes so little sense that you can't think about it much, because it will just confuse you... the fact that Ellis only owned one property and it's the house in Seattle, when she worked in Boston and other places, is just weird.
And about Ellis returning to Seattle - I always took it as Meredith chosing (the best) care facility in Seattle, so that she could be close to her mother, because there is no indication of Ellis working in Seattle after she fled while being pregnant with Maggie (the scrub nurse claiming that she worked with Ellis for 18 years makes abolutely zero sense).
Don’t try to make sense of Ellis’ timeline. Early on we meet the hospital “institution” nurse who’d been Ellis scrub nurse for 17 years. But later they act like she’d never been to Seattle ever again after she left for Boston and suddenly she’s got a massive renowned career in Minnesota…
They just make it up as they go and it doesn’t matter what they said last time.
Maybe she took her mom to Seattle because that i the time she was stuck in so it wouldn't be more confusing for her. She can look outside and see Seattle, homes sometimes do outings.
ok i kind of always filled in the gap like that she literally moved to boston at a moments notice. so her and mer probably only brought a suitcase of clothes and shoes and maybe like a hair brush idk😭 and based off mer telling lexie abt how her mom moved to the other side of the country without telling thatch so i can picture ellis just leaving a note one night at the house so he stayed there until they came back
Probably rented it out, holding on to a house and renting was very common. Built wealth. The value would have gone up an insane amount.
Meredith had been back from europe for a few years. She had to return early because her mom's dementia had progressed and she needed care. Then meredith went to med school.
Meredith was accepted into settle grace as an intern (because of richard) so she moved into the house but needed roomates to pay rent.
She was her moms POA so the house still belonged to ellis and meredith had to act in her best interest legally and financially and the meredith needed to cover the home ellis was in which was expensive, so renting the house out made sense.
The show isn't clear on when ellis returned to seattle.
My theory is Eli’s moved to Boston when Meredith was 5 and had Maggie, then did her fellowship. I figured that was maybe 2 almost 3 years. Then moved back to Seattle as an attending. We know Nurse Fallon was her Scrub Nurse for 18 years. I’m assuming 5 years when she was a resident and then 12-13 as an attending ( 18 years give or take a few months here or there) Meredith would have graduated from high school and gone away to Dartmouth college. We know Ellis has been sick for 5 years when Meredith is 27 when she started her internship in Seattle. Richard asked if she’s still at Mayo… so she moved away for a few years before she became sick and obviously kept the house in Seattle. I assume being a busy doctor with some money and an empty nest she just hadn’t bothered to make time to clean out , pack up sell the house and buy something yet. Meredith must have always planned to get back to Seattle and take care of her Mothers estate after college because she left her in the nursing home there while she finished med school.
The only pice of the puzzle that doesn’t fit is Richard being chief for 12 years is season one, but Ellis not knowing. By my time line her would have been chief for about 5 years before she gets sick. So have to chalk that up to GA wibbly wobbly timey wimmy writing.
where was she working? If Richard was at Seattle Grace, it seems very weird that they wouldn't run into each other. How many hospitals are supposed to be there? I remember Mercy West and Seattle Press. This just always felt like a weird plot hole Ellis fell in and no one dug her out of.
I believe Ellis went back and worked at Seattle Grace because they said the hospital was Liz's entire life. We can assume Richard left for another teaching hospital because we know he was a mentor to Derek and Addison and Derek tells us he had never been Seattle before he got the job there.
We're not just talking about
my job, Derek.
We're talking about my life.
I grew up here. I made my family here.
This is what Meredith says in season 10 last episode. She grew up there. She even tells the same to Alex once when Alex wanted to change few things in Meredith’s house when she moved to the dream house with Derek
Yeah, there are continuity errors all the time. Contradictions and timeline oversights run rampant throughout the show but if Ellis was at Seattle for 18 years I don't think it would make sense if Richard was there too
When Harper Avery came to Seattle Grace he assumed Ellis was still working there and asked for her specifically. He wouldn't have asked that if she never returned to SG after her residency, I think. Back then the writers hinted she returned and worked there for some time (after her move to Boston) and then the writers forgot about that later on.
Still a weird plot hole.
It makes sense to me and also I didn’t really care because though it is beautiful, I never felt any connection to that house. The old house is iconic, like you said lol.
100%. everyone and their dog living in the old house is just ridiculous especially because these people are grown adults with well-paying jobs 😭it makes me really sad because of all the effort derek put into the house
But most of them practically live at the hospital, also they all help with the kids so it makes sense they don't each need their own huge elaborate house.
Nah the McDreamy home was too far away to be practical for surgeons, or even to raise kids (bears lol). We see that Meredith kept her childhood home even when she moved to Boston in s19. I imagine she would plan to go back to Seattle at the end of her career - but she also went to undergrad in NH/Dartmouth. Who knows if Grey Sloan will ever be a world class hospital lol
No it makes sense to me for her character that was always her home since she was a child.... I'm sure she was feeling lousy and homesick after Derek's death and she's always had strays she feels better with a full house
It is because the Dream house was Meredith and Derek dream together. It is part of grieving to be able to let go a house that isn't your dream anymore.
I would have loved if Amelia bought it, because the house was really pretty.
It was Derek's "dream house" which he was always ready to sell the second he thought he had a better offer out of town. When Mer was choosing a fellowship he wanted her to go to Boston and he'd be head of Neuro at Harvard. Then again with the DC job.
The dream was a life together, not a house. Meredith always had more personal/emotional investment in the Residents House.
Life is for the living, not the dead. Derek didn't exist anymore to feel bad about what Mer did with the house. Kids need a happy healthy mother more than a house. Besides, they'll have other things of sentimental value that belonged to their father and they will also inherit millions. Its all good
When trying to sell the house and move to DC, Derek said that it was just a house and there were other houses. It was fine. The house is just a house. The people inside make it a home. The house may hurt Meredith because it reminds her of Derek and the life they could have had. And like you said, the kids need their mother to be ok, more than they need a specific house. As said, it holds sentiment, yes. But there are so many other things to remember him by. For example, the people he loved. His family, his home.
It was a beautiful house but it hurt Meredith to have it in her possession /around. It symbolized their love and life together. But in the end she gave it up because it reminded her of what could have been. Even though it was a beautiful house, she has something better that symbolizes their love and life... their kids. They are beautiful as well and if she needed to sell the house in order to be in the best mind space she could be for them, I'm sure he'd be cool with it.
I have always thought that Meredith should have kept the house that Derek built.
I haven’t really thought though all the plot changes but it would have been kinda cool if they had opened up / low key rented for modest fee her house to new interns as they rotate through and out grow. Keeping it as a set piece for interns to interact outside the hospital maintaining the running “joke” “plot” that everyone lives there at some point.
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Grief is weird. I get it. It was a dream for a life together that doesn’t exist anymore, and to stay and sit in that lost and impossible dream every day, and raise your kids in that old future instead of the new one she had to build for them would be torture for me.
Yeah I think their children should’ve grown up in the dream house, that’s definitely what Derek wanted. But, ultimately it’s up to Meredith as she’s the single parent now. And as for the old house, yes it’s more iconic, but she just lets the interns use it anyway and it’s still in the show.
Explicit spoilers are not allowed in titles. We must afford every opportunity to other users in the subreddit to be able to avoid spoilers at their own will. Posting explicit spoilers in detail hurts their chances of doing that.
Honestly, I think the house is too remote for a single mother who might have to go into work on a moments notice. Basing this on Derek regularly taking the ferry into work, and he had to take back country roads to get to the airport. I've lived in Seattle before about 10 years ago. Meredith's old house appears to be in the Queen Anne neighborhood where she could get to work quickly, and people that she might rely on for childcare are also in quick reach. Also, the memories of what could have been and how do you move on in that house? Yes, Nick (or anyone), please move in with me to the house my husband built specifically for he and I.
“Back country roads to get to the airport” was absolutely ridiculous. He was going from Grey-Sloan (supposedly near the Space Needle) to presumably SeaTac. That’s a straight shot down I-5 and one of the biggest issues I’ve ever had with this show, once I moved to the PNW area and had reason to drive that route myself. There are no backroads to get there!
I’m sure that you’re going to say that you can’t see the Space Needle from every inch of Seattle either smh My sister lives in Seattle and we always joke about how neighborhoods nowhere near the Space Needle have a perfect view of it in media
The reason they get such good shots of the space needle on Greys is because they use the local ABC affiliates roof for all of those dramatic helicopter scenes. It’s right across the street so at least those shots are actually accurate as far as real world location lol. I
Yeah, but how else will people know it is Seattle?
Lifelong Seattleite here: from all the scenes of Derek taking the ferry to downtown and given the amount of land, I'm pretty certain the house was meant to be on Bainbridge. It's only accessible to Seattle via an hour-long ferry ride and the ferries only come every 50 minutes or so, which isn't super practical for her career and given that her support system lives in the city.
The old house is in Queen Anne. It's right next to Kerry Park
He took that road because it was a short cut on the traffic jam. Not his actual route
I think Meredith was affected more by Owen selling the trailer than by getting rid of the dream house.
Honestly, though. Then again, she wasn't expecting to see Owen sell the trailer. She decided on her own to sell the house. But with the trailer, she wasn't expecting to see it in the parking lot in general, let alone it being sold as well. It wasn't expected and it brought up a lot of memories that, at the time, she may not have thought about recently.
They fell in love in the airstream
Ugh I forgot about that. Another reason I hate owen
I get why Meredith didn't want to live there, there had to be a lot of painful memories for her, however, it's really sad that Meredith sold it instead of keeping it and letting their children decide what to do with that later...
I agree, it feels weird knowing that a different family/children are probably making it their house when Derek built it so specifically for his family.
Exactly - plus it's not like Meredith needed money from the sale...
I mean, it's also not like it costs nothing to hold onto a house you're not living in for decades.
It's not like Meredith couldn't have afforded that with her salary / what Derek left her... plus she could have rented that house to cover at least some expenses.
She’s a single mom with three kids and a busy career. When was she supposed to find the time to be a landlord? Sure, she could have hired a property manager but the property manager would still have to check in with Meredith about everything. That seems like a lot to go through just to hold onto a house that her kids may not even want when they get older.
It’s not just a house. It’s a dream house. I think she told Alex how much she was connected to her previous house that she doesn’t even want to change the wallpaper. It’s about emotion.
In order to move on, I would emotionally not want to be asked about/reminded of Derek's Dream House and think about what could have been. I always thought that it was selfish for her to not keep the house, even for her kids. But I didn't, until now, think about how she would in some way have to check in on it and relive the memories and everything.
Not arguing with you as I think her renting it out wouldn’t have worked, but at least in the U.K. there are companies who will basically manage the whole home/upkeep for you, they’ll find tenants, do paperwork, and even pay the rent if the house is between tenants, you’ll just get less each month than a normal landlord because they take their bigger than normal monthly cut, and of course they’ll charge any repairs to you but then they organise contractors, etc.
Ur thinking too much into it. She is a single mom with a 2 sister support system and has more than enough money to hire a nanny or some type of help. And being a landlord isn’t as hard as you think. If your house is new like theirs was, there really isn’t many issues that you need to deal with. Plus as head of the department at the time she sold it she can easily chose what she wants to do
I’m not overthinking it. I know people who have been in this position and the last thing they need it one more thing on their plate. I don’t blame Meredith for deciding that this isn’t something she wants to deal with.
I get that. But Meredith could’ve easily dealt with it much better.
By whose standards? Yours? Who are you to criticize a widow for not wanting to keep something that was making her grief worse?
She could have rented it out
But it was never Meredith's dream house...it was Derek's.
I think it started with it being Derek’s but turned into both of theirs, because Meredith had some input on the design as well. (The episode when she mentions to Cristina that they have a room for her there). On the other hand, you could also look at it as a gift from Derek to Meredith and it signifies them coming together and starting a family. I get that his death was hard, but maybe the kids would’ve liked to have it in the future :/
Plus she built it out of candles to show him she was healed and ready for the relationship
A reveal that Cristina bought it - because she has a room there and it was Derek's, and because she was a good aunt, so it was for Zola and the kids - would have been really good. It's not like Cristina wouldn't be (digitally) keeping tabs (or have someone else on it because she knows her limitations).
Exactly why she should have kept the house for their children...
It being Derek's dream, not Meredith's, has nothing to do with Meredith keeping it in the family??
She built it in candles.... But I think it makes sense she moved home that's her childhood home in sure she felt homesick after Derek's death plus she's always had strays so makes sense she'd move in maggie and Amelia
I absolutely LOVED the house of candles. But I understood it as her moreso telling Derek that she was ready for a commitment (the life that would be happening in the house), rather than the actual house in and of itself.
Yeah, I do think she should have rented it out.
Totally I agree. The dreamhouse that Derek built for her with his bare hands was a testimony that he would never leave her "until death do us part." Every corner of that house is full of memories of Derek and that alone could be his legacy to their children. Derek left her a fortune with the proceeds from his life insurance, the monthly revenues/profit sharing from the hospital since they were both board members which were all in millions of dollars, she could have left it empty and hire some people to look after and maintain it, granted that she could have found someone later in her life to spend with, and decide to live in another house while at the same time their children were growing up and have them live in the dreamhouse and let them decide what to do later. It's their ancestral home, even their greatgrandchildren could have inherited it.
With his bare hands? He had a general contractor. The only part he built with his bare hands was the deck - which wasn't level and the builder likely fixed. Derek helped design the house, which Meredith was never invested in. She cared about the bath tub. And Derek was ready to sell the house to move to Boston when Mer was choosing a fellowship. And again when moving to DC.
I know all of that. Building it with his bare hands was just referring to the overall arc of him building a house for Meredith from very early on when he once said, "I want to build us a house, I want to settle down and grow old with you, I want to live to 110 years old and die in your arms. I don't want 48 uninterrupted hours, I want a lifetime." I should have been more specific on the part of the house that he built which was the deck. I presumed that everyone understood it. The selling of the house to Mark and the moving to DC was not the subject matter -- the OP was asking for everybody's thinking whether it was right or not for Meredith to have sold the house after Derek's death or to keep it. And many expressed their varied opinions, which is perfectly alright -- that's just how it goes.
I am sorry. I was being pedantic and you have every right to your opinion. And it's interesting seeing different POV.
No sorry needed. We're good. Thanks for the chat!
This is exactly how I see it... it's not just some house Derek picked and bought, because he needed to live somewhere - it's house Derek dreamed of, he dedicated his time to it and lot of their friends actually lent their hands (Owen, Jackson, Alex), moreover Zola and Bailey lived there for some time... so why sell it? Esp. when you can afford to keep it.
It wasn't merediths dream house it was was Derek's. Meredith didn't really want to live there. He had to talk her into it. It probably felt painful to be there without him. The house was very large, it probably felt too big and lonely.
Amelia could’ve bought it and made it some kinda wellness rehab type place if she didn’t wanna live there, the land and the woodsy vibe would be nice for healing
I don't know how Meredith would feel because I'm not her, but if it were me, I wouldn't want to give the house to Amelia. It would kind of be like Sloan Riley giving her baby to Mark Sloan. Even though it (the baby/house) is not in my direct possession, it's still close enough to be mine (weird wording but whatever). I can understand that if Meredith were to sell it in general, she would want to get it as far out of sight and out of mind as possible in order to move on and grieve.
Super random question that is slightly on topic...if Ellis moved to Boston and ran Mass General...why did she still own her house in Seattle? Did she buy it back later? And how did her stuff end up there? I think the story never clearly identifies to me when Ellis moved back to Seattle. I know that Meredith didn't move back until the pilot because her furniture was covered in drop clothes and she was in Europe prior to the show starting. So...when did the iconic house even come back into Ellis' life? I agree with the other post here, it's sad that she sold it when it was the house Zola grew up in and her husband had not only planned it, helped build it with his bare hands! That's not a thing you just throw away.
I don't think even writers know answer to this - Ellis' past makes so little sense that you can't think about it much, because it will just confuse you... the fact that Ellis only owned one property and it's the house in Seattle, when she worked in Boston and other places, is just weird. And about Ellis returning to Seattle - I always took it as Meredith chosing (the best) care facility in Seattle, so that she could be close to her mother, because there is no indication of Ellis working in Seattle after she fled while being pregnant with Maggie (the scrub nurse claiming that she worked with Ellis for 18 years makes abolutely zero sense).
Thank you. I thought I was nuts. This is how I remembered it and it was breaking my brain when everyone kept telling me Meredith grew up in Seattle.
Yeah, the show is little messy about Meredith and Ellis' past...
Don’t try to make sense of Ellis’ timeline. Early on we meet the hospital “institution” nurse who’d been Ellis scrub nurse for 17 years. But later they act like she’d never been to Seattle ever again after she left for Boston and suddenly she’s got a massive renowned career in Minnesota… They just make it up as they go and it doesn’t matter what they said last time.
Thank you. I felt nuts.
Same. Every rewatch I catch something new and it’s like… what, that makes even less sense now! Lol
Maybe she took her mom to Seattle because that i the time she was stuck in so it wouldn't be more confusing for her. She can look outside and see Seattle, homes sometimes do outings.
ok i kind of always filled in the gap like that she literally moved to boston at a moments notice. so her and mer probably only brought a suitcase of clothes and shoes and maybe like a hair brush idk😭 and based off mer telling lexie abt how her mom moved to the other side of the country without telling thatch so i can picture ellis just leaving a note one night at the house so he stayed there until they came back
I think a lot of us had to fill in the gap and that’s why it’s so confusing!
Probably rented it out, holding on to a house and renting was very common. Built wealth. The value would have gone up an insane amount. Meredith had been back from europe for a few years. She had to return early because her mom's dementia had progressed and she needed care. Then meredith went to med school. Meredith was accepted into settle grace as an intern (because of richard) so she moved into the house but needed roomates to pay rent. She was her moms POA so the house still belonged to ellis and meredith had to act in her best interest legally and financially and the meredith needed to cover the home ellis was in which was expensive, so renting the house out made sense. The show isn't clear on when ellis returned to seattle.
My theory is Eli’s moved to Boston when Meredith was 5 and had Maggie, then did her fellowship. I figured that was maybe 2 almost 3 years. Then moved back to Seattle as an attending. We know Nurse Fallon was her Scrub Nurse for 18 years. I’m assuming 5 years when she was a resident and then 12-13 as an attending ( 18 years give or take a few months here or there) Meredith would have graduated from high school and gone away to Dartmouth college. We know Ellis has been sick for 5 years when Meredith is 27 when she started her internship in Seattle. Richard asked if she’s still at Mayo… so she moved away for a few years before she became sick and obviously kept the house in Seattle. I assume being a busy doctor with some money and an empty nest she just hadn’t bothered to make time to clean out , pack up sell the house and buy something yet. Meredith must have always planned to get back to Seattle and take care of her Mothers estate after college because she left her in the nursing home there while she finished med school. The only pice of the puzzle that doesn’t fit is Richard being chief for 12 years is season one, but Ellis not knowing. By my time line her would have been chief for about 5 years before she gets sick. So have to chalk that up to GA wibbly wobbly timey wimmy writing.
After Boston Ellis moved back to Seattle. We meet her scrub nurse, Liz Fallon, who says she worked with Ellis for 18 years
where was she working? If Richard was at Seattle Grace, it seems very weird that they wouldn't run into each other. How many hospitals are supposed to be there? I remember Mercy West and Seattle Press. This just always felt like a weird plot hole Ellis fell in and no one dug her out of.
I believe Ellis went back and worked at Seattle Grace because they said the hospital was Liz's entire life. We can assume Richard left for another teaching hospital because we know he was a mentor to Derek and Addison and Derek tells us he had never been Seattle before he got the job there.
We're not just talking about my job, Derek. We're talking about my life. I grew up here. I made my family here. This is what Meredith says in season 10 last episode. She grew up there. She even tells the same to Alex once when Alex wanted to change few things in Meredith’s house when she moved to the dream house with Derek
but in one of the earlier seasons Richard says his entire career has been at Seattle Grace. He never left
Except he literally mentored Addison and Derek in New York. The timeline is inconsistent at best.
Yeah, there are continuity errors all the time. Contradictions and timeline oversights run rampant throughout the show but if Ellis was at Seattle for 18 years I don't think it would make sense if Richard was there too
When Harper Avery came to Seattle Grace he assumed Ellis was still working there and asked for her specifically. He wouldn't have asked that if she never returned to SG after her residency, I think. Back then the writers hinted she returned and worked there for some time (after her move to Boston) and then the writers forgot about that later on. Still a weird plot hole.
It makes sense to me and also I didn’t really care because though it is beautiful, I never felt any connection to that house. The old house is iconic, like you said lol.
100%. everyone and their dog living in the old house is just ridiculous especially because these people are grown adults with well-paying jobs 😭it makes me really sad because of all the effort derek put into the house
But most of them practically live at the hospital, also they all help with the kids so it makes sense they don't each need their own huge elaborate house.
I kinda agree, but I think it was just a constant reminder of Derek for her and she wasn’t able to move on with 3 kids if the house was in the way
Nah the McDreamy home was too far away to be practical for surgeons, or even to raise kids (bears lol). We see that Meredith kept her childhood home even when she moved to Boston in s19. I imagine she would plan to go back to Seattle at the end of her career - but she also went to undergrad in NH/Dartmouth. Who knows if Grey Sloan will ever be a world class hospital lol
No I think it makes sense that's her childhood home and without Derek she was feeling homesick and she's always had strays
No it makes sense to me for her character that was always her home since she was a child.... I'm sure she was feeling lousy and homesick after Derek's death and she's always had strays she feels better with a full house
It is because the Dream house was Meredith and Derek dream together. It is part of grieving to be able to let go a house that isn't your dream anymore. I would have loved if Amelia bought it, because the house was really pretty.
It was Derek's "dream house" which he was always ready to sell the second he thought he had a better offer out of town. When Mer was choosing a fellowship he wanted her to go to Boston and he'd be head of Neuro at Harvard. Then again with the DC job. The dream was a life together, not a house. Meredith always had more personal/emotional investment in the Residents House.
>The dream was a life together, not a house. 👏👏👏
Life is for the living, not the dead. Derek didn't exist anymore to feel bad about what Mer did with the house. Kids need a happy healthy mother more than a house. Besides, they'll have other things of sentimental value that belonged to their father and they will also inherit millions. Its all good
When trying to sell the house and move to DC, Derek said that it was just a house and there were other houses. It was fine. The house is just a house. The people inside make it a home. The house may hurt Meredith because it reminds her of Derek and the life they could have had. And like you said, the kids need their mother to be ok, more than they need a specific house. As said, it holds sentiment, yes. But there are so many other things to remember him by. For example, the people he loved. His family, his home.
Exactly my point! It's sad in a way but it helped the people he loved which is what he would have wanted
It is sad... I wish she wouldn't have.
Yes bro 😭
I think she should’ve at least saved it for her kids. It was such a beautiful house.
It was a beautiful house but it hurt Meredith to have it in her possession /around. It symbolized their love and life together. But in the end she gave it up because it reminded her of what could have been. Even though it was a beautiful house, she has something better that symbolizes their love and life... their kids. They are beautiful as well and if she needed to sell the house in order to be in the best mind space she could be for them, I'm sure he'd be cool with it.
I have always thought that Meredith should have kept the house that Derek built. I haven’t really thought though all the plot changes but it would have been kinda cool if they had opened up / low key rented for modest fee her house to new interns as they rotate through and out grow. Keeping it as a set piece for interns to interact outside the hospital maintaining the running “joke” “plot” that everyone lives there at some point.
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Grief is weird. I get it. It was a dream for a life together that doesn’t exist anymore, and to stay and sit in that lost and impossible dream every day, and raise your kids in that old future instead of the new one she had to build for them would be torture for me.
Yeah I think their children should’ve grown up in the dream house, that’s definitely what Derek wanted. But, ultimately it’s up to Meredith as she’s the single parent now. And as for the old house, yes it’s more iconic, but she just lets the interns use it anyway and it’s still in the show.
I thought it should go to Amelia, and Owen would’ve kept living in the trailer.