Phyllis Jane Young · 2001 Honoree

Phyllis Jane Young grew up in Orange County, Virginia, which she describes as the kind of place where, if you snuck a cigarette as a kid, someone else’s mom would see you and tell you to stop. Neighbors looked out for each other in an old fashioned way, children said “Yes sir” and “No Ma’am” to adults whether they knew them or not, whether they were black or white. It was a good place to grow up, she says, but everybody leaves and Phyllis was no exception. She now brings her Southern charm and old fashioned sense of community to her work here as an agent with Pardoe Real Estate and to her involvement with various neighborhood activities.

While she appreciated the many good things about life in the country, Phyllis was always interested in the wider world. She graduated from a small Virginia college in 1969 with a double major in political science and Russian history. A few years later, she was in Washington lobbying on Capitol Hill for the Allstate Insurance Company. She had originally lived in Alexandria but after rush hour traffic caused her to be late for a long-anticipated performance by the Bolshoi Ballet she decided she had to be in the city. Capitol Hill was convenient to her work and “I couldn’t afford Georgetown.”

Once here, Phyllis did what so many people do; she bought a house and began learning about renovation. A few years later, she was helping friends figure out what to do with their home when the friends suggested to her that she should go into real estate. “You love people,” they said, “you love the Hill and you love old houses.” It did make sense and Phyllis says she made a sale her first week on the job though at that time she still wasn’t quite sure how to write up a contract.

She has learned. Since 1983 Phyllis has worked in the Pardoe office. She has not only assisted Capitol Hill folks in buying and selling hundreds of houses, she has helped Pardoe strengthen and maintain ties to the community. Phyllis has decorated Christmas trees at Hine Junior High school, organized the Hill-o-ween Pumpkin Patch for small children at Eastern Market and made sure that Santa put in an annual appearance on Seventh Street bringing, besides his good cheer, candy for the kids and the chance for them to be photographed with him. Phyllis chaired the annual house and garden tour for the Restoration Society and has served on the board of the CHAMPS Community Foundation for seven years.

Community is very real to Phyllis in terms of both the physical and the personal environment. A few years ago, when she was quite sick, friends and neighbors sustained her through the experience, bringing her food and checking on her every day. It’s the kind of neighborliness she learned as a child, in the country. The city, though, continues to thrill her. She loves the variety of the houses and the majesty of the public buildings. “It sounds hokey to admit this,” says Phyllis, “but I get chills every time I look at the Capitol.”