As a Realtor since 1977, Angela Young has seen a lot of houses up close and personal. She’s seen just about every housing cycle and design trend that’s come along over the past 40 years.
And yet she's perfectly content to stick with her 1,800-square-foot Scottsdale Midcentury Modern.
“I never expected to live in a house this old and this small but we have really loved this home,” Young said. “Is it my dream home? At this stage, it really is because it’s easy living. We love the ability to walk or ride our bikes. It’s a 10-minute walk down to restaurants and wine tasting and the canal. The ease of getting around is great.”
The house is a Midcentury with modern flair near 68th Street and Indian School Road. It has four bedrooms and three bathrooms and, to many people, feels bigger than it is.
“People are shocked at the size,” Young said. “It feels bigger because of how it flows, and with the big vaulted ceilings and every room having sliding glass to the outdoors.”
The house was built in 1955. Angela and her husband, a retired airline pilot, bought the house 11 years ago and have remodeled it twice.
“It’s unique,” Young said of the property. “We revitalized and added value. Being a Realtor, I see so many homes and so many decors. When we redid it, we gave it more of a Midcentury feel and an industrial openness and made it more modern. We added a backsplash and took the cabinet doors off and it made it just a little bit more of an open feel.”
Young and her husband, Robert, have been married 41 years and like to travel often. They have a 37-year-old son and enjoy their fun and convenient lifestyle.
“We love the location to downtown,” Young said. “We can walk everywhere and we belong to the Valley Ho and have that downtown urban feel but still have a home instead of a condo. We have a garden and have all organic vegetables and do our composting.”
Fortunately for the Youngs and thanks to all the work they put in, the house no longer needs anything but routine maintenance.
“We’ve changed it quite a bit,” Young said. “We kept the original footprint but added on with each remodel. First we added an outdoor living room, and on the second remodel we added another master bedroom with master bath and added a shed roof over the back patio. We updated plumbing and electric and buried some lines. We’ve tried to make it as new as we can without tearing it down and starting over again.”
The couple has built or remodeled 15 homes in their four-plus decades together, including five houses that they built and sold in their current neighborhood.
“We had to live in our house for a while to know what we wanted to do,” Young said. “We added a huge slider and added 3 feet onto the living room and added onto the master bedroom during the first remodel. We made it a little more industrial but we left the integrity of the house. It’s a block house and it’s nice to have that insulation.”
Her favorite part of the house is the integration between indoors and out, and the year-round outdoor living the home affords. The backyard includes heaters and misters on both patios.
The house was on the first Scottsdale Homes Tour three years ago.
“The Scottsdale Homes Tour gives you great ideas of what to do with your home,” Young said. “People are moving toward more modern and clean — less heavy, more simple.”
The Youngs had reservations about being on a tour, since it involves many people coming into the house, some of whom may be judgmental. However, the experience was great for the Youngs.
“Being one of the first homes on the first tour was exciting,” Young said. “It turned out delightful.”
And so did their house, thanks to lots of time and care.
