Sarah Palin Real-Estate Watch, Vol. III: Completing the Danged Fence
Days after Sarah Palin promised to build a fence to block the prying eyes of a journalist who moved in next door, her fence is standing. But reporter Joe McGinniss's son says it's the Palin family's fault for irking the owner of the house next door to theirs.
A fence erected by the Palins to block views of their home, background (Mark Thiessen / AP)
Earlier this week, we brought you the story of Sarah Palin's new neighbor, the muckraking journalist Joe McGinniss. Palin was unhappy about McGinniss's decision, feeling it was an imposition on her family's privacy. In a Facebook note, she wrote: "[Y]ou know what they say about 'fences make for good neighbors'? Well, we’ll get started on that tall fence tomorrow."
With apologies to Robert Frost, perhaps there are other things that make good neighbors—like not annoying people who own houses next door. That's what McGinniss's son, Joe McGinniss Jr., suggested in an e-mail he shared with Politico's Ben Smith. According to the younger McGinniss, the owner of the house sought the journalist out after becoming annoyed with the Palins. They had rented the house—a former halfway house—for a spell, and the owner made renovations at the Palins' behest.
But the former Wasilla mayor didn't pay for the renovations, the owner said, so she offered McGinniss the chance to rent, and he jumped at it. For what it's worth, Palin told Glenn Beck that her husband, Todd, had tried and failed to contact the neighbor about buying the house for months.
Finger-pointing aside, Palin has followed through on her promise to build that fence. The tall, wooden barrier now stands along the border with the house McGinniss is renting, according to the Associated Press.
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