Phyl Scott is well-known in Auckland fashion circles. She has advised three generations of well-heeled women and only retired from her job at Country Road, in Newmarket, five years ago – at the age of 90.
She is selling her much-loved home of 53 years, having moved onto a retirement village. Her daughter, Jane, told OneRoof she was a vibrant woman even in her later years (her employers thought she was 10 years younger than she actually was when she finally called it quits)
“She’s been brought up from that generation where you just get on with it,” Jane told OneRoof. “She loves fashion and would have third-generation customers coming in with their babies, going to the children’s section.
“She’s been quite an amazing role model in terms of her ability to keep going and work really hard. She would have kept working if she could. She’s remarkable.”
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Scott’s three-bedroom house at 2A Scherff Road, in Remuera, is close to some of Auckland’s most expensive homes yet is on the market at an entry-level price for the suburb, according to the agents selling the property.
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Ray White agent Steve and Nila Koerber have pitched the property as a renovation or redevelopment opportunity. “She’s a little bit tired,” they said in the listing on OneRoof, “but if the walls could speak, the stories they’d tell would surely bring a smile to your face.
“Although she’s a prime candidate for an epic makeover, you may want to capitalise on the wide street frontage and the development potential of the 698sqm of mixed housing suburban land.”
The double grammar zone property has a 2021 CV of $2.25 million, below the average sale price in the suburb. Steve Koerber said at that level, it was entry level for Remuera’s northern slopes.
He said it was a 50-50 call on whether the eventual buyer would tear the house down and start again. He could envisage two new homes on the site. “It’s very difficult to get freehold land of this size in the double grammar zone,” he told OneRoof.
“However, someone may just buy it and land-bank for the land values."
The house is on a 698sqm site zoned for development. Photo / Supplied
The agents say the property is a prime candidate for an "epic makeover". Photo / Supplied
Scott’s daughter said she had fond memories of the house. “It was such a cool place to grow up. I have heaps of memories of venturing down to the local parks and Hobson Bay as a kid, coming back just covered in mud. It was so much fun.
“We had lots of events with family and friends, spilling out onto the patio. It was a really social house. In the 1980s, my parents built a beautiful big deck, which we’ve had to take down. I had my 21st on it.”
She added: “And there are so many native birds around there too. It’s just beautiful. You can sit out on the patio and be visited by fantails and tui.”
She said she’d love to see another family with young children or teenagers buy the home.
If she had the money, Ellis said she would buy the home herself and renovate. “The bones of it are really cool. You could extend it through the master bedroom.”
- 2A Scherff Road, in Remuera, Auckland, goes to auction on November 8
