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Saturday, July 20, 2013

4 Pinder Lane - Major Price Reduction - Key West

This Key West property is a singular sensation because of its unique history, architecture, location, and usage. The original home was built in 1859 and was updated and expanded with contemporary additions in the 1970s. It has a rich and colorful history that is as eclectic as the guests who have wined and dined in this home which for decades was the center of the Key West glitterati universe. Today the estate sized property is available at a new low price of only $1,975,000CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and to view more listing photos.

4 Pinder Lane as it appeared in 1965
 I first saw this property about five years ago when it was listed (together with an adjacent cottage that has since been sold) at the then asking price of $4.5 million. My buyers were so taken by this property that they required a second visit that evening to see how home looks in the nighttime.  "Wow!" would be an appropriate description.  This property is simply unforgettable and very romantic in the evening!

If you have been following the Key West real estate market regularly, you must have noticed that many Old Town houses are referred to as 'quintessential Key West cottages'. 4 Pinder Lane isn't one of those. It is the opposite. The house is a blend of a really old historic Key West home which has been updated with mid-20th Century additions. The house is both sophisticated and grand, but it still has small intimate spaces for normal living. The house has 2657 sq ft of living space situated on an irregular 9887 sq ft lot located at the end of a lane surrounded by some very pricey homes.
The house as presently configured has two bedrooms. Both bedrooms are located on the second floor of the older portion of the house. They share one bath and an adjacent (huge) walk-in closet.  There is room, however, to add a guest cottage at the rear where you could construct a third guest bedroom and bath.  The master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling and two Romeo and Juliet balconies. One balcony looks down onto 1970's living room to the north.  The other balcony looks down to the new kitchen addition to the east.
View from Romeo and Juliet balcony off master bedroom
Note the seamless transition between living area to the pool and deck area
The main living area has an 18' vaulted ceiling with a glass wall of windows and doors that frame the entire room and that look out to the very large pool and gardens. The design is so comfortable and informal that you immediately feel welcome in this wonderful living space. The brick floors of the living room make a seamless transition to the pool area which also has brick pavers. It is as if the outdoors is part of the indoors - only the outdoors 'ceiling' is boundless. The grounds are totally (but subtly) lit at night.  I remember the nighttime showing from several years ago when the pool area and gardens at night just screamed to host a really swank cocktail party with a hundred of one's closest friends.  That's exactly what happened in days of yore.

Garden extends 15 feet beyond the lengthy pool

Add a second story above Pool bath house to create new guest bedroom

The kitchen and dining area are in a separate wing of the house which also has a separate vaulted ceiling. In most houses the kitchen is the 'gathering' where family and friends talk (and drink) while the chef cooks. This kitchen is extra large and designed for entertaining. Multiple sets of French doors open out to a rear garden area. CLICK HERE to view a slide show of photos of the house and grounds. There is an existing cottage at the rear of this garden which could be the site of a new guest cottage.
Kitchen was designed for entertaining

Rear deck overlooks the bricked courtyard on the east side of the property

Both the living room and kitchen have what I call Romeo and Juliet balconies that look down from the second floor core of the house where the two bedrooms are located. I can just see a Jules or Juliet up in the bedrooms running from balcony to balcony calling out to Romeo, Rome, wherefore art thou, Rome? amid all the people below attending some big gala.

The listing Realtor describes 4 Pinder Lane like this way:
"Just Reduced! Priced To Sell! On one of Old Town's biggest lots, just under 1/4 acre, luxuriously renovated & expanded, this home on the Nat'l Registry of Historic Places is a sweeping sophisticated sanctuary ideal for entertaining. A living rm w/18ft ceiling & fireplace opens through a wall of windows to lush gardens & huge pool w/cabana bar, poolside bath/dressing rm. In addition to a gracious dining rm, an enormous eat-in chef's kitchen wrapped in 18ft ceiling w/windows & French doors. There are 2 Bosch ovens & dishwashers, Subzero fridge, 2 sinks & ice maker. Upstairs the master suite w/dressing rm + sitting rm/ & orig. 3rd bedroom opens to a roof-top sundeck. 2 car parking, lg storage cottage w/ample room to add guest house."
The phrase "Sensational Old Key West history at its best!" refers to the legendary writers, artists, actors, and Key Westers that frequented this one-of-a-kind property over the years. Sharon Well's author of "See Key West" wrote that the owner of 4 Pinder Lane "introduced Tallulah Bankhead to the island. Clad in flowery pedal-pushers, she could sometimes be seen at Fausto’s Food Palace." Cary Grant, Leonard Bernstein, Burt Reynolds, Anne Jackson and Eli Wallach,Tony Curtis, Roy Schieder, Peter Allen and authors Tennessee William, James Kirkwood, James Leo Herlihy, and Evan Rhodes are among the many others who were guests at this home.

Pinder Lane is another slow lane in Key West located in the 500 block of William Street. It dead ends about 250 feet east of William Street where the lane ends at 4 Pinder Lane. Two other homes are located on Pinder Lane as well as a very fancy guest cottage which recently became an extension of the main house located on William Street. An abutting neighbor on Southard Street purchased a vacant lot on Pinder Lane to create off street parking.  If you buy 4 Pinder Lane you will have some mighty fine neighbors.

4 Pinder Lane is now listed, but not by me, at the reduced asking price of $1,975,000.  Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing of this singular sensation.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc.


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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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