210 Olivia Street , Key West, Florida

The listing agent, not me, describes the newly listed property at 210 Olivia Street in Key West this way:

"Renovation project on a double lot with accessory building, carport and plenty of off street parking. Main house 2/1 with additional 1/1 cottage. Inviting conch cottage with a great front porch and tons of Key West charm. The right buyer could really make this a spectacular home. Room for master bedroom addition and pool. Just a few blocks to Ft. Zachary beach and Duval St."

I poked around in the old shoebox and found a black and white photo of the house that was taken back in 1965. This particular photo shows the simplicity of design that makes these old houses so appealing to us today. To see what I mean compare the black and white photo to the color photo taken today. Granted the color photo was taken around noon when outdoor sunlight was at its worst for taking pictures. But if you look carefully you'll see some "modern" additions to this house that ought not to be there including aluminum windows. Little details like replacement with period-correct windows and a crisp white paint job would make this old home show more prominently.

I searched the Sanborn Fire Maps to see if I could determine when this house was built.
The property was omitted from the 1889 map. The 1912 map definitely places 210 Olivia Street at the corner of what is now Hutchinson Lane. The 1889 and 1899 maps have the same house plus the same cottage in the rear, but the house numbers were different on all three maps. I am confident in stating that 210 Olivia Street existed as early as 1889. 

 210 Olivia Street is located on a large corner lot that runs 66' wide and 70' deep or 4818 sq ft. The existing house and out building total 917 sq ft per the listing Realtor. There is room to expand the house plus room for a pool and garden. A new owner might turn the rear cottage into a guest bed and bath or alternatively make it into a pool house.  The parking space in front of the rear cottage is accessed off Hutchinson Lane. A new owner might brick that space and put a nice picket fence around the property. I t

Olivia Street is a one way street that begins one block to the west and terminates about one mile to the east at Eisenhower Drive in the Meadows Area.The new City of Key West Truman Waterfront Park will be located near this property but Olivia Street will not be a thoroughfare - it is too narrow.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this home. You can see some interior photos. Understand that the interior will likely get ripped apart and put back together in any renovation. 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 Key West.