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Thursday, July 29, 2010

1125 Von Phister Street - Casa Marina Area - Key West



Do you know the difference between Boca Raton and Key West? Key West is not Boca. Thank God! We have better weather year round. We don't have freeways and interchanges. True we have a traffic jam of tourists on Duval Street, but that helps the rest of us live here. We have real people that live in real houses in real neighborhoods. Key West has a rich history and people who are born here or who move here on purpose love just living their lives each day. The way I look at life, you get one shot at it and you ought to spend it where you want to be and do the things you want to do. If you have an jerk for a boss, you quit your job. Life is too short to deal with morons. And if you don't like where you live, you ought to do something about that too. If you put everything you want to do in life until a later date, what happens if you don't make it there?

Preferred Properties (that's where I work) recently listed the great house located at 1125 Von Phister Street. I call big impressive Key West houses "great houses" because of their size and importance. But in the instance of 1125 Von Phister "great" is an appropriate adjective that describes a very beautiful home in a great Key West neighborhood. I know the neighborhood well because I live just a few doors away. I love the neighborhood and you will love this house. This home is owned by a local family that recently purchased a business outside of Key West. This is not a distress sale of any kind. But this great house is a great value none the less. It is offered at $1,299,999.

The listing Realtor describes 1125 Von Phister Street this way:
"Located in the Casa Marina Area of Key West, is this elegantly renovated 4 bedrooom 3/5 bath with lush tropical landscaping. Some of the outstanding features are the hardwood floors, cherry cabinets, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances,wrap around porches, reverse osmosis system, landscape lighting and irrigation paved pathways and driveway, large rear deck for entertaining and beautiful pool with water features. Just 3 blocks from Higgs beach and minutes From Duval."

This house is large: 2352 sq ft under roof plus lots of covered porches and outdoor lounge area. The lot is 4621 sq ft. The house was extensively renovated a few of years ago and a large addition was built at the rear that now houses the combined kitchen and great room downstairs and the master bed and bath upstairs. The rear lounge CLICK HERE and deck area, pool, and bath house with outdoor shower were also new additions. There is a bricked driveway that could accommodate two cars but parking is not an issue in this area anyway. The surrounding houses are single family and most have off street parking.

Downstairs you will find an inviting guest room/den/office CLICK HERE with a full bath that can be accessed from the formal entry hall or from the guest room. The entry hall leads to the rear with large ceilings and lots of French doors that open the inside to the outside. The kitchen sits off to the right.CLICK HERE

Upstairs you will find two good sized bedrooms with real closets. The front bedroom opens onto the wraparound second floor porch. These two bedrooms share a bath. Then at the rear is the the third or master bedroom. It has a vaulted ceiling that adds lots of volume to the room. The owners had a special cabinet built to provide extra storage space. CLICK HERE to view. The master bath is just beautiful. CLICK HERE.

The pool sits at the back of the property and gets lots of morning and afternoon sunlight. There is a bath house CLICK HERE and a separate outdoor shower! The outdoor lounge area is covered for the most part, but part is open to the beautiful blue skies.
This house shows attention to detail everywhere. I won't bore you with for-instances. Well, maybe a couple: hardwood floors (not laminates or engineered); coffered ceiling in the kitchen and great rooms; real operable storm shutters CLICK HERE that add grace to the house; custom built cabinetry, moldings and casements CLICK HERE that adds valuable storage space and interesting places to showcase your books and collectibles; totally unique switch plates (new to me!) CLICK HERE; old fashioned floor registers for air conditioning (mimics what you saw in your grandmother's house); and a killer front porch! CLICK HERE Lots of interior and exterior photos CLICK HERE.

You may or may not want me as your neighbor, but I am sure you will really like this house. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a showing. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida. Our office is the Exclusive Lower Florida Keys affiliate of Christie's Great Estates.




8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want it.

Anonymous said...

Then call Gary and get out your checkbook - it's yours if the price is right. Come on down!

Anonymous said...

Be prepared to pay full price. If my research is right, the owners have deep pockets (old money), don't need to sell and aren't budging on the price.

Anonymous said...

Tax rolls says it is owned by the Cooke family a.k.a. the owner of the local paper, the Key West Citizen, damily owns a winery/vineyard in VA and the Cooke family also had ties to the NFL as the head of the family dynasty was also the late owner of the Washington Redskins. Very much a money family (mutli-millions if not close to a billion) so yes, you will pay full price most likely. They own lots of businesses and I doubt they are in need o selling so be prepared.

Gary Thomas said...

I can't say too much because I don't know too much. But this property went under contract right after we got the listing. Contract price was less than asking price. And Buyers backed out because they could not put hurricane impact windows in a historic house. First, it doesn't need them. House has architecturally correct and fully functional shutters. Second, hurricane impact windows do not work with this type of property. If you like old (as in your grandparents) you gotta treat old things kindly and correctly, otherwise, don't bother.

So word is a cash offer at a lower than asking price may be possible.

Gary

Anonymous said...

Sounds like even the wealthy Cooke family is in need of a cash infusion. Is the newspaper next?

Anonymous said...

This house is beautiful!

Gary Thomas said...

This house sold on September 8, 2010 for $1,200,000.
Helluva good deal.

Gary

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The information on this site is for discussion purposes only. Under no circumstances does this information constitute a recommendation to buy or sell securities, assets, real estate, or otherwise. Information has not been verified, is not guaranteed, and is subject to change.
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