1021 Packer Street, Key West - Renovation Project with Potential

Key West has changed a lot in the past half century. The town was re-discovered in the 1970s by hippies, gays, and the literary. During the 1980s and 1990s word of this magical laid back town located out in the ocean spread by word of mouth. Soon thereafter the Monroe County Tourist Development Council was formed to promote tourism. Depending on who you talk to the TDC has been a wondrous success or a Frankenstinian ogre that is destroying the very Paradise it was designed to promote.

The above black and white photo was taken in 1965 and shows 1021 Packer Street with an open front porch with center doorway and windows on either side.The house resembled a bungalow rather than cigar maker cottage which was as is typical of this part of town. A later owner enclosed the front porch where a bathroom was added adjacent to what may have been the original living room. I believe that owner built the rear addition that included a kitchen, living area, and rear deck. The addition must have been made before HARC existed or was done in the middle of the night. I can't believe any governmental body officially would have approved what was built. The building is fine. The interiors are laughable.

The current house and rear cottage offer 1395 square feet of living space and sit on a 4002 square foot lot (42.8' X 93.5') located in the south of Truman Avenue area of Old Town Key West. The large house across the street was sold in June 2016 for $2,100,000. That property was built in 2005 and sits a 5667 square foot lot. That sale suggests to me that a nicely renovated house would fit very nicely into this improving neighborhood. I believe 1021 Packer Street is a buying opportunity for a buyer who is looking for a renovation project in Old Town.

I searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps and learned that 1021 Packer Street existed as of the 1892 map - or to say it differently 1021 Packer Street sat on this lot for at least 124 years. The City of Key West officially designated this house as a contributing structure. Longtime readers of my blog know that our Historic Architectural Review Commission (HARC) has guidelines which suggest how renovation to contributing structures like this should be addressed. This old house and this particular lot pose a challenge for a potential new owner as well as the City of Key West. Earlier this year a new survey was prepared for a then pending sale of the property. The survey showed that a portion of the front roof and eave encroached onto the adjacent lot at 1119 Packer Street.  Encroachments occur from time to time and owners can often resolve these issues with easements, land swaps, or land sales. Because of lender issues on the adjoining property the encroachment could not be resolved. A cash buyer could take title to the house as it sits and hope to resolve the encroachment in years to come. A new lender however probably would not loan new money with the encroachment. The most likely buyer for 1021 Packer Street will be a cash buyer who is looking for a project property.

The listing Realtor describes this listing this way:

"Historic 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Old Town plus a 240 sf out building that needs City approval to rent. Backyard big enough for a pool. The house encroaches on 1019 Packer and needs to be lifted and moved 3 feet. Price reflects contractors bid of $142,500. See documents. This location is increasing in value with a $2 million home right across the street."

The City of Key West is aware of the challenging lot line issues for this property. I think the listing Realtor has a developed a workable solution to fix the problem and to preserve and to improve the original house.  The encroachment will disappear when the house is moved. Many of the existing trees will be removed and all new piers added. The listing Realtor suggested to me that a new owner might try to get permission to add a new first floor addition and place the original house on top thereby creating a two story house. Otherwise, the house would be moved onto the piers and renovated. Nothing inside the existing house is worth saving. Money spent on replacing windows, doors, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC will be money very well spent. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on 1021 Packer Street which is offered at $575,000. Click on the DOCUMENTS tab to view the survey and contractor bid. I think this will be  a really fun project. I look forward to seeing how this place will get renovated. There are very few houses with this much potential at a price this reasonable - especially houses located in Old Town. If you are looking for such a place, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to set up a showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

1021 Packer Street, Key West

ATTENTION INTERNET HOME SEEKERS: if you have been searching for a renovation project to create a three bedroom home with a guest cottage, pool, and off street parking, the project property you have been seeking may now be available. I know you are out there on the internet at all hours of the day and night monitoring the Key West mls using various search engines like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and maybe even the real Key West mls website. The new listing at 1021 Packer Street may be the answer to your internet seach.

The house and cottage at 1021 Packer Street shown above was just listed at the asking price of $765,000.  The listing Realtor (not me) describes the house this way:

"Old Town Renovation Project with large lot and tremendous potential. Excellent location in the Heart of Historic District, Spacious with generous sized rooms, excellent natural lighting, soaring ceilings and exposed beams, an abundance of Dade County Pine in every room, separate cottage, perfect for studio or guest quarters, ample room for a pool and deck and off street parking. X flood zone. New roof in 2002."

I looked through my old shoe box and found two photos with the notation 1021 Packer Street. The top photo shows the front of the property as it existed fifty-one years ago. The lower photo shows the small "cottage" at the right rear. The front house looks more like a bungalow than a cigar maker cottage which is the norm for most of the Old Town area. I investigated further. I went to the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps and searched the address. The 1912 map shows the entire city block which runs south from Division Street (which is now known as Truman Avenue) to Virginia Street. The map shows there were several small shops and two restaurants that ran east on Division Street from Packer east one block to Grinnell.. Today that same strip on Truman still has commercial buildings most of which are of modern construction. Heading south on Packer from Division Street there were a group of six small cigar maker cottage-style homes. Four still exist today. There is a vacant lot where the other two previously existed. Next were two narrow one story buildings. Today there is one two story building on this lot. The next lot was wide and had two houses: the one identified as 1021 Packer on the north was short and the adjacent parallel house identified as 1023 Packer much longer. They were not and could not be the same houses as exist today which are seen in the black and white photos and identified as 1021 Packer Street. The adjacent lot to the south was vacant. Today that lot has a nicely remodeled more recent home. The last lot was vacant. That lot was and still is a part of the historic Fire House No. 3 located on Grinnell Street. The Sanborn Map detailed that location as being a one horse, one hose cart fire house. All of this tells me that the current 1021 Packer Street was built after the 1912 Map was published. The architecture suggests a house that would have been built in the 1920s or 30s. The Monroe County Property Appraiser website says the house was built in 1938. Maybe it was but maybe it was built in the 1920s before the Depression almost killed Key West. I am a doubting Thomas on the 1938 date.

Building permits show that the roof at 1021 Packer Street was replaced in 2002. The inside of the house suggests that the entire inside was renovated about the same time. Below you will see a series of photos I took which show the current configuration and condition of both buildings and the lot. 

The front porch still has the historic pillars shown in the 1965 photo above. The front porch would typically be the front entrance into the house. The last owner relocated the main entry to the south side. What was the front of the original house is now the back side so to speak. I think it makes practical sense to keep the main entrance on the south side and make the front porch a place for the occupant of the master bedroom to sit on occasion. A small railing could probably be added to keep the porch space private.

 If you are a long time reader of my blog you know that many renovators orient the living room, great room, or kitchen toward the back of the property so that the owner can look out to the pool and gardens. This house does not have a pool, but it has large back yard where a large pool could be constructed. There is an abundance of open space to meet the city's permeable space requirements for pool construction. The existing great room is already oriented toward that awesome future view. The room is quite large and has a vaulted ceiling. There are windows or doors on three sides which provide a lot of nice filtered light during the daytime. Unfortunately the great room (and the rest of the entire house) needs gutted. The good thing is the space is quite large and in pretty good shape.

 I envision that a new owner would add a deck system which would extend the indoor space outward toward the new pool. The existing shed roof might be replaced by a new roof that would match the great room's roof line. Of course an architect or designer could come up with an even better spatial plan. The good thing is a lot of space to work with. That is a very positive feature.

The house has two baths located next to each other on the north side of the house. This does not make sense. I would renovate the first bathroom and convert the next bathroom into a new laundry room and storage area. The bedroom nearest to the great room is good sized and has ample closet space. It would be perfect as the second bedroom for the main house. There is a second guest bedroom located adjacent to the current master bedroom. The master bedroom is located adjacent and takes up about 2/3s of the front of the house. The master bedroom ceiling is vaulted and adds a lot of drama to the space. There is an existing French door that opens out to nothing. I would eliminate the French door and install a new built in bookcase with two windows with a window seat. This would create a bit do drama and eliminate an unnecessary door to nowhere.  I would eliminate one of the two doors that open onto the front porch. This would create more wall space for furniture placement. Finally, I would install a new door a the end of the hall to make the master bedroom into a private master suite. I would transform the existing small front bedroom into a new en-suite bath where I would create a large walk-in closet. If this existing pompous adornments were replaced by simple but classic Key West Conch interiors, this place could look like a million dollars in no time flat. 

The cottage at the rear already has a bathroom. You wouldn't want to use it, but it is there. That means you won't need to get permission to add a new one. The cottage ceiling could be vaulted. Maybe the existing front door could be eliminated and the back French doors relocated to the side which could then open out to the new pool. There are many different opportunities on how this cottage could become that special place for special guests.  CLICK HERE to view more photos I took of this property. 

There are pluses and minuses to all neighborhoods. This little block has some fixers and some very nice homes that currently exist like the one directly across the street which is currently offered for sale at $2.4 million.

1021 Packer Street is a 1635 sq ft house situated on a 40' X 93' lot. It is offered for sale at $765,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls data sheet. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing. My ideas may not work for you. They don't have to. The neat thing is as a new owner you get to decide how to create the idea home you have been dreaming of owning. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Please give me a call. Let's see if this home might be the renovation project you have been seeking.