Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No. 42

from April 7, 2016

1521 Seminary Street, Key West - Affordable Home in Paradise

The newly listed home at 1521 Seminary Street in the Midtown neighborhood of Key West just may be the answer to the impossible dream that so many would be buyers have. What's that - you ask.  It's a cute little place with character with a large yard that you could add to over the coming years to create your version of the perfect place in paradise and to do so at an affordable price. The listing Realtor at Preferred Properties describes this unconventional delight this way:

"Lovely Mid Town Artist Home with an Old Town feel, centrally located for an easy bike ride to Downtown or the Beach. Open floor plan with Dade County Pine throughout and 10 foot ceilings. Large French Doors off of the Kitchen and one of the Bedrooms open up to the back deck and screened bungalow. The tropical foliage of mature palms surround the outdoor shower and bath."

This sweet little home is located away from Old Town which means a lot of would-be out of town buyers won't have the foggiest idea where it is located. GOOGLE solves that problem by providing aerial and street maps. CLICK HERE for an aerial view of the location and then click the toggle switch for a street view.  The street view, however, doesn't provide much help in that the house is located behind a six foot privacy fence.

You enter the home directly from the large wood deck in the front yard. As soon as you walk through the front door you know this is not suburbia. While the living room may look pedestrian, the kitchen and dining area are anything but. The kitchen has all the look and feel of a saw tooth addition you'd see in Old Town. The exposed vaulted ceiling adds volumes of character to this space. An arched opening between the kitchen and dining area is repeated on the rear kitchen wall. Another window provides a view of the perfectly picturesque artist studio to the rear. (More about that later.)

The Property Appraiser website recognizes two bedrooms and one bath. The red bedroom is located just off the kitchen. French doors open out to the rear deck which will be discussed shortly. The yellow bedroom is located at the opposite side of the house.

The rear deck provides access to the artist studio which is charming beyond belief. When I saw this place my mind immediately raced back to the hippie days in Boulder Canyon and Aspen and later to Old Town Key West before all the money and HARC changed things. This place was put together by love and creativity that a committee of architects, lawyers, and social do-gooders could never imagine. Nor create! 

There is a small "shed" located next to the artist studio. The washer and dryer are housed in this space which also has "facilities".  Please CLICK HERE to view more photos which will reveal more than I can write. They also show the huge rear yard which has room for a large pool. When you walk the end of the deck and  take a quick left you see the outdoor shower which is an earthly delight.

The Monroe County Property Appraiser website shows the 912 sq ft house as having been constructed in 1933 which would have been the Great Depression. We know that date is not correct but was selected by members of the WPA who recreated county records destroyed  by the great fire much of Old Town including the old court house. I checked the historic Sanborn Fire Maps none of which showed any homes in this area. I also looked at old aerial photos but was not able to find one that showed a house in this area. Still I am of the belief this house existed before 1933 either at this location or that it was moved to this location later. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and to view more listing photos of this wonderful home which is offered at $545,000. A new owner could move in here and not do anything. This is the personification of Key West casual before so much of town got renovated. True, a new owner could renovate and if that is your preference, you could update this place. But the point is you don't need to. That is why the asking price makes this place affordable. 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.

Update. A couple days ago I was looking thru Instagram posts and saw an image that reminded me of how much the hippies and gays influence Key West four decades ago. They came to a town time and distance forgot and created their own little nirvana. I miss it.