Phoenix Urban Living News. Real Estate In Phoenix Arizona

Historic Paradise Valley Home Looking For Special Buyer.

Historic Paradise Valley Home For Sale.  77 Year Old PV Home Looking For Special Buyer

Elsa Rector is hoping that her historic Paradise Valley home does not become another tear down, wanted only for the land on which it sits.

She and her husband, Fred, have lived in the home on 1.67 acres northwest of McDonald Drive and Invergordon Road for a decade and a half.

Duncan MacDonald, one of the town’s original developers, built the house in 1931.

It is ancient by Arizona standards, but Rector sees it differently.

“I grew up in a house built in 1750,” she said. “So, a house built in 1931 is a new house.”

Of course, the Valley’s original MacDonald’s house has been updated and enlarged to 5,600 square feet since it was built with adobe block during the Depression. The Rectors updated the plumbing and installed new air-conditioning in recent years.

Architect Benny Gonzalez, who designed Scottsdale City Hall, lived in the house and added his own touch to it that included nine sliding glass doors and a wine cellar in the old furnace room. His addition was built of cement block and the original adobe blocks are not visible.

The 77-year-old home does not look particularly historic, although the Rectors’ antiques shade it in that direction. It has its charms and blemishes.

Appeal to niche buyer

A niche buyer willing to spend the $2.6 million asking price or $464 per square foot must have the kind of vision that Rector had for it in 1992. At that time, the yard was completely overgrown and the house was a wreck.

She spent four months living in the guesthouse while the home was renovated.

A tennis court and pool are part of the property

Rector, 67, is a former New York fashion model and magazine cover girl who grew up near Philadelphia in an 18th-century home.

“I think this house is magical,” she said. “It would be a crime to tear it down.”

Homes a decade or older generally sell for $350 to $500 per square foot, with those at the lower end becoming teardowns and others at the upper end often getting remodeled.

It is estimates the land value of the Rectors’ home at $2 million to $2.5 million.

Buyers shun older homes

Historic properties often have a narrow niche of buyers who value unique character over the latest modern touches.

Another historic adobe home south of Camelback Mountain went on the market over two years ago, and remains unsold.

That 60-year-old home near 49th Place and Camelback Road is about 3,000 square feet on 1.1 acres with a guesthouse.

It went on the market in January 2006 for $1.9 million and is still for sale at $1.54 million.

The Rectors’ home is set back from the four-way-stop intersection of Invergordon Road and McDonald Drive.

Incidentally, McDonald is named for Duncan MacDonald, although the spelling was altered.

He also named Invergordon for a town in his native Scotland, Rector said.

She has a faded black and white photo of MacDonald’s home around the 1950s with just a few other homes and open desert to the northwest beyond where Lincoln Drive is today.

To say the least, the neighborhood has changed.

Bette Zerba can help you view this historic home in Paradise Valley, or any historic home in the Phoenix area. Contact Bette at 602-791-1766. Search for all available luxury homes and historic homes on the complete Arizona MLS at www.luxury-phoenix-homes.com