Source : the age
Vickii and James Scott were in no rush to find a new home – but they weren’t expecting the hunt to take three years.
“We looked at 500 houses in that time, going to inspections every weekend,” Vickii, a school registrar, says. “We didn’t know exactly what we were looking for; we just knew we hadn’t found it yet.”
The couple did have a few criteria. For a start, the home needed to be large enough to host their entire family – two adult daughters, plus sons-in-law and grandkids – during holidays.
Ample outdoor space was important, as was proximity to shops and public transport. The pair didn’t want to stray from Sydney’s Upper North Shore, where they had grown up and raised children.
The couple had built their previous two homes, and Vickii was hoping their next purchase would offer a similar challenge.
“Building and renovating is in my blood,” she says. “My parents built four homes themselves and my uncle’s a builder. The first thing I do when I walk through a house is think about how I could change it.”
The pair in 2019 snapped up a five-bedroom North Turramurra home, paying $2 million. They then embarked on a stylish renovation project and now have decided to sell, as they look towards retirement and prepare for a new chapter.
“We knew immediately it was the one,” Vickii says.
After 500 inspections, what made this house stand out?
“We loved that it didn’t have a straightforward floor plan: it was a higgledy-piggledy house,” Vickii says. “It also had two fireplaces and the most amazing outdoor entertaining area, plus an enormous pool. It ticked every box.”
Still, there was scope to expand the kitchen and reinvigorate the downstairs living spaces.
“Because it’s a full-brick home on a concrete slab we knew that moving walls and plumbing to redo the kitchen could be expensive,” Vickii says.
“But, to me, the kitchen is the heart of the home. In the end we just went for it.”
The work began in September 2023. The kitchen was gutted and rebuilt, with space carved out of a hallway for a large butler’s pantry.
The living room, laundry and downstairs bathroom were all redesigned. One of the two gas fireplaces was transformed into a wood-burner, and fresh living-room cabinetry was built in, creating an elegant display space for heirlooms.
An interior-design enthusiast, Vickii was clear on what she did – and didn’t – want the renovation to look like. The existing scheme was plain, with a vague Hamptons influence.
Instead, she devised a material palette to imbue the home with a sense of seriousness and sophistication: slabs of grey-veined Arabescato Borghini marble, blond oak floorboards and burnished-brass cupboard and drawer hardware.
In the kitchen, the island base, rangehood and joinery were all painted Black Cockatoo, an almost-black shade of green from Porter’s Paints.
“It’s dark but it works,” Vickii says, “and when it’s bright outside, the green really comes through.”
The couple stayed in the home while work took place as the upstairs rooms weren’t slated for a makeover.
That made staying put easier, although the kitchen overhaul meant there was no water downstairs.
“We used a tap outside and cooked on the barbecue, which was an adventure,” Vickii says.
The renovation began smoothly.
“We had a terrible time building our last house – the builder went broke halfway through,” Vickii says. “Talk about drama. So we planned this one very carefully, to avoid any nasty surprises.”
But as work progressed, the project timeline began to slip. By early December the kitchen was half complete, the high-spec Ilve appliances languishing in their boxes.
“We had the whole family coming to stay for Christmas and it went right down to the wire,” Vickii says. “I was getting very heated with the builders and they were getting very heated with us.”
Finally, on December 23 the job was done, and Vickii was able to test-drive the new kitchen with the family.
“It’s a real ‘wow’ kitchen and it’s practical, too,” she says. “I love cooking in it. It’s a happy place.”
Now, after their peaceful years in the home, the Scotts have decided to sell.
“It’s time to get rid of the mortgage and retire,” Vickii says. “We are sad to be leaving our street but we are hoping to stay close. North Turramurra is very special. It’s not pretentious and the community is beautiful.”
Listing agent James Levy of Ray White Upper North Shore says the renovation has elevated the home in tightly held North Turramurra.
“It’s rare to find a home with a renovation of this quality. It’s not just a lick and a promise; there’s a level of attention to detail that you seldom see.”
Levy is not concerned about selling the home during Sydney’s softer market.
“A home like this will stand out in any market. It’s got the quality and the lifestyle that people are looking for but don’t often find.”
Dan F Stapleton writes on First Nations issues, visual art, property and more. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Financial Times and others. He is based in Sydney.
