1012 Varela Street, Key West

Attention Bargain Hunters: 1012 Varela Street may be the bargain you have been looking for. Here's why. This two cottage assemblage is located in the Viva Varela Condominiums just a stone's throw south of Truman Avenue in the Old Town area of Key West. The front cottage consists of a good sized living room with two story vaulted ceiling. The walls and ceiling are Dade County Pine. Thee is a small bedroom downstairs and the master bedroom is on the second floor. It is accessed by a spiral stairway from the living room. The master bedroom is open to the downstairs so both spaces have a very open feeling. The one bath is located on the first floor. The kitchen is quite large. It has two sets of French doors that open on to the rear bricked courtyard. (There is also a laundry closet in the kitchen.)

The Viva Varela Condominiums is an assemblage of smaller homes grouped together for purpose of creating a common walkway providing ingress and egress to otherwise land lock cottages. The association maintains the common area and includes water. Owners are responsible for paying their own insurances and home maintenance.

I found the black and white photos of the front and rear cottages as photographed 55 years ago. Like in Key West was much less hectic and certainly much less expensive. As Key West became more popular and housing prices increased, home owners and developers created compounds and limited feature condo associations to provide a bit of cover from compliance with strict building code rules especially in creating common swimming pools or walking access lanes as in the Viva Varela example.

The second cottage sits near the rear of the lot. It has a good sized bedroom and large bath with a glass block wall that lets lots of light into the area. There is a deck to the rear of that cottage which has a separate gate that provides private entrance into the cottage without going through the main house. That would be an excellent place to put your guest so they won't disturb you after they return from a night on the town. That cottage does not have a kitchen. The living space is vaulted and has French doors that look out toward the bricked courtyard which separates the two cottages. That courtyard is large enough for a pool.

 CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 1012 Varela Street Key West offered for sale at $749,000. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West, to schedule a private showing. While this house does not have off street parking, it beats a lot of places similarly priced for charm, space, and privacy.