True Key West Real Estate Related Stories in the Time of Covid-19 Part Four

I have been selling houses in Key West since 1997 - that's 23 years. I picked up some good stories along the way. Last week I told my dear readers about the old lady who lived in a big derelict house on Southard Street who shooed me away from parking on the William Street side of her house. It was a great house then it became monumental chore for the aged woman to manage. Many of the big old houses in Old Town were in mild to deep disrepair when I started selling homes. The historic district dramatically changed over the past three decades as more and more of the tired old houses have been restored. The house above on Grinnell Street is one of those.

I showed that house many times over the years and wrote more than two cash offers on it, neither of which were accepted. It took that old woman many years to sell because she refused to let any of her various real estate agents show the house. She greeted all prospective buyers and took them through house repeating her life stories - plural.

The former owner's family had lived in this property for generations. My remarks about the prior owners are not intended to disparage anyone. Contrarily, I relish the somewhat odd experiences I had when I showed the house. This house, like so many of the grand old homes in Key West, was built by ship chandlers - men who built great sailing vessels. The houses were built to withstand strong winds and the elements. I will never forget standing with her on the second floor front porch as she recounted having watched a storm coming across from the Atlantic side of the island as it made its way toward the Gulf of Mexico a couple of blocks to the north. She remarked about how strong her father was during that storm and how well the house withstood the winds and rain.

The house looked similar when it was being lived in as it did when I photographed it in its first renovation except there was furniture and curtains. The new owner took down the two story addition at the rear which is where the former owners had their kitchen.

I remember the former owner's mother sitting at the kitchen table attending to a box of new born kittens during one showing. The older woman always sat in that room and always smiled as potential buyers passed by her table. The memories of the ancient matriarch and her progeny are all that remain of the events that occurred during the hundred years her family lived in this old house.

The once derelict house has been thoroughly restored and gentrified beyond the expectations of the former owners.  The house first sold in 2007 for $1,550,000.  Maybe the owner was correct in her marketing strategy after all.