(MONEY Magazine) – • THEN Last December, MONEY reported on the plight of Susette Kelo, a nurse in New London, Conn. In 2000 the town tried to seize her home under the constitutional power of eminent domain, but Kelo vowed not to budge. Kelo v. New London rose to the Supreme Court, which in June 2005 ruled against her. Still, she stayed put.

• NOW This summer Kelo agreed to have her house physically relocated to a nearby lot. (The government will pay for the move.) She'll lose her waterfront perch, but at least she'll keep her 1893 house. Scott Bullock, Kelo's attorney at the Institute for Justice, called the deal a "bittersweet victory. It's less than she wanted, but it will let Susette hold on to something important to her: that little pink cottage," he says.

• THE TAKE-AWAY The harder the fight, the more resourceful you have to be. Kelo stared down a mighty bureaucracy by calling for hearings, organizing rallies, sending out fliers and sacrificing her privacy to become a symbol of the little guy defending home. In the end her point was made, and she has her house to show for it. Says Bullock: "If you lose with one strategy, get creative about other ways to salvage what you really want out of the deal."