317 William Street, Key West - Classic Old Town Home

Just Listed, but not by me, 317 William Street, Key West, Florida. Buyers looking for a classic Conch House (revival) at an affordable price need look no further. This 1944 square foot home is currently configured as a duplex where the upper unit has one bedroom, two baths, and a loft. The main level unit is a one/one but has access to the rear yard. In my opinion, the best use of this home would be to restore it to a single family home.

Locals and frequent visitors to Key West knows that the 300 block of William Street was the equivalent to the cradle of civilization as far as Key West history is concerned. The historic seaport was located just on the far side of Caroline Street.  Businesses lined Caroline Street. Merchants and seamen lived in the nearby houses and boarding houses. I looked in my old shoe box and found the black and white photo of 317 William taken a little over fifty years ago. I also found a photo of the 300 block of William Street in 1885. I took a similar photo on June 5, 2019 from that same location - basically in the middle of William Street and in front of 317 William. The old street appears much wider, but there were no cars and few trees. The legendary Red Doors is located at the right side of the photo.

Many things have changed over the years including the redevelopment of the historic seaport. That revitalized this entire section of Old Town. There are multiple restaurants and tourist related businesses at the seaport and on Caroline Street. The boardwalk or esplanade now rims the north end of the seaport and wraps around to the south and ends at the new Truman Waterfront Park. Most of the homes in this area (bounded by Eaton to the north and Caroline to the south) are second homes many of which are used as vacation rentals. 317 William is one of the original surviving houses that has not been significantly updated and it is for that reason that this house is priced at just $799,000.

 I also found the historic interior photo of the parlor at 317 William Street. Millennials and even us old baby boomers don't live like this any more. A restoration to single family house would include installing a new interior staircase, new kitchen, and baths and removal of the existing exterior stairs. The restored home would add to the legacy homes that line this historic block. CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos.

 The photo two above shows the Red Doors at 800 Caroline Street in 1975. The Red Doors are also visible on the right side of current day Caroline Street. The waterfront area is a draws thousands of visitors to this area all year long. Vacationers love to stay within easy walking distance to the seaport and Duval Street located just four blocks to the west. 

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. There will be a lot of interest in this classic Conch House. Don't wait!