1117 Watson Street - Old Town - Key West

Just Listed, but not by me, 1117 Watson Street in Old Town Key West. You have seen this same house on my blog a couple of times over the years.  But you have not seen it the way it looks now because the house has been totally updated and give a new houseanality. 

I searched the Historic Sanborn Maps to see if I could determine when the cigar maker cottage was built. The first map dates back to 1889 and it shows houses that existed as of that date.  1117 Watson Street was on that map except back then it was numbered 211 Watson Street.  I am making an assumption here that the number 211 Watson was given because Watson Street began at Division Avenue, which is now known as Truman Avenue.  This house is in the second block of Watson Street. In looking at the map I learned that numerous cigar numerous other cigar maker cottages fronted on to Watson Street while others ran perpendicular east from Watson.  In the 1912 map a wide space just south of the adjacent house was identified as "On Set Court".  That space today is where the shared pool in the Conch Grove Compound is located.

I then dug down into my old shoebox and found a photo of 1117 Watson Street that was taken in 1965. It is shown immediately below. I created a new image that shows the same house nearly fifty years apart. Take a look at all the changes.

This visage is now "history". The entry door is reversed to the south side and provides real access once again.

 If you read about this house before or if you saw it when it was previously listed, you may remember that the previous owners used the front room as the bedroom. While the original entry door stayed in place on the left side of the front porch, the actual entry to the house was located on the south side of the house. A fair amount of real estate was used to create a stairway to a second level loft that was very cramped and that had no practical utility. It was claustrophobic!  Seriously, detective Monk would have flipped out over the cramped space.  The current owner removed the loft sleeping area and stairway. The entry was taken back to the front porch but reversed to the south side.

The above photo shows the front entry door on the left. The single bedroom is on the right. There is a new kitchen, updated interiors, new bath, and a totally new aura to this 680 sq ft one bedroom cigar maker cottage.

The Conch Grove Compound is an assemblage of twelve homes many of which were original cigar maker cottages that were updated by different owners over the years. James Kirkwood (co-author of A Chorus Line) and the late David Kaufelt were among the original compound owners.  All homes share the large and sunny pool and park-like common areas.  The monthly association fee is $200 which covers common area and pool maintenance. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet and listing photos of 1117 Watson Street.  This one bedroom one bath cigar maker's cottage is offered at $675,000.  Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing.I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc.  Instead of meeting with architects, builders, and decorators, spend this summer by the big sunny pool getting the tan of your life.