Maria Pointer held one final party at her home overlooking the SpaceX facility outside of Brownsville, with guests visiting from early morning until the stars twinkled goodnight and said farewell to the woman who shared her front-row seat of Elon Musk’s rocket activities in Texas.

“I cried three times, and then I laughed three times,” Maria Pointer said, “and then I opened up another bottle of wine and hugged a few more people.”

Her husband Rayford, however, couldn’t bring himself to attend the party, devastated by the way things played out. The Pointers purchased the property for its isolation and birdwatching. They spent years building their perfect retirement home.

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Then SpaceX moved next door and began building prototypes for its Starship vehicle that could one day take people to the moon, Mars and beyond. Maria Pointer, making the best of the situation, turned her energy toward photographing the company’s progress, building a reputation among SpaceX enthusiasts as Boca Chica Maria.

But the Pointers’ relationship with SpaceX grew tenuous last year when the company sought to buy their house and other nearby properties, saying it had become increasingly difficult to minimize disruption. SpaceX offered to pay three times the property’s market value, based off an independent appraisal. Residents, however, said the appraisals provided by SpaceX weren’t accurate, calling them a lowball offer from the company’s billionaire owner Elon Musk.

Negotiations continued, and some residents have since moved out. The Pointers hope to be out by this weekend. Maria Pointer thinks the home will be used by SpaceX employees and doesn’t expect it will be torn down. She wouldn’t say what SpaceX paid, but she acknowledged it was higher than the first offer of $231,000.

“SpaceX paid me to move,” she said.

SpaceX committed to building a launch site in Boca Chica in 2014. Progress was initially slow but saw an eruption last year as the company began testing prototypes for its Starship vehicle. Work has maintained its rapid pace this year as SpaceX hosts hiring events, builds new facilities and continues testing.

This activity has been captured on Maria Pointer’s Twitter (@BocachicaMaria1), her Facebook page (SpaceX Boca Chica) and a 24/7 livestream video from cameras mounted in her yard. She’s also welcomed people into her yard to watch the activities in person, becoming a gathering spot for many.

As she prepared to move, it was the cameras and their ability to inspire the children of Brownsville that worried Maria Pointer. But the cameras have found a new home, and the Pointers are ready to move on.

“When LabPadre found another spot, it just changed my world,” she said. “I was just like, ‘Oh my god, it gets to continue, and I get to continue.’ I just have another chapter to continue. Not the same chapter.”

South Padre Island resident Louis Balderas runs the cameras on Maria Pointer’s house and shares the footage through the LabPadre YouTube channel. The cameras on the Pointers’ home are right next to the area SpaceX uses to build its prototypes, which Maria Pointer calls the Boca Chica Rocket Shipyard. Balderas also has a camera on a South Padre Island condominium that provides a view of the SpaceX launch site.

Balderas had been looking for alternative locations — “I knew eventually everybody would sell when the price was right” — and found an undeveloped piece of land about a mile from the Pointers’ home. It is closer to the launch site and can still see the Rocket Shipyard.

He will soon erect a 30-foot tower to hold his cameras, including a new camera that will produce 4k video. This equipment was made possible by donations from some of LabPadre’s 27,300 YouTube subscribers.

On HoustonChronicle.com: SpaceX connects Brownsville to a new world of space enthusiasts

“The majority of the funds have come in from the nerdle. They’re a great community that we’ve put together,” Balderas said. “The nerdle is a term we came up with: A herd of nerds, or group of nerds, is a nerdle.”

And the Pointers aren’t getting too far from SpaceX enthusiasts. Maria Pointer said SpaceX will still grant her access to Boca Chica during launches.

Their new home in Port Isabel overlooks the same bay as their old house. In fact, the Pointers can still see SpaceX with their naked eyes, though a telescope is needed to capture details previously seen through their window.

Port Isabel probably won’t be their permanent home. Rayford Pointer is searching for a more secluded property where they can build their next dream home.

But it will do for now.

“I don’t want to stay that close, and I don’t want to stay that connected,” Maria Pointer said, “but I do have fun. And I am a photographer, and I’m really enjoying watch the space technology develop.”

andrea.leinfelder@chron.com

Twitter.com/a_leinfelder