1411 Petronia Street - The Meadows Area of Key West

 The modified Eyebrow House at 1411 Petronia Street was built circa 1896. I dug deep into the old shoe box and found a photo of the house as it appeared in  1965 - see below and then followed by a photo taken this morning.

I wrote about this property a couple of years ago when it was offered as a short sale. I had a friend who lived here so I was very familiar with the odd layout of the house as it used to be. Whenever I showed the former house I would tell prospective buyers things they could do to improve the place. The house property eventually was sold. and the new owner thoughtfully redesigned the house by re-purposing the old rooms into new uses that work with how we live in Key West. When I first walked into the renovated house my jaw dropped!

I had stood in the middle sawtooth addition to the original small eyebrow house many times and told potential buyers what they might do to the property to make the space more functional. Buyers often imagine huge costs and horrendous contractor experiences (too much HGTV home remodel nightmares). The new owner did what I imagined by removing an interior wall between the former kitchen and bathroom located at the rear of the house. A bank of sliding doors is now the rear wall in the kitchen through which the chef and guests can view the  lush tropical pool. The kitchen easily merges into the newly redesigned living area with vaulted ceiling.

The new owner fixed what had been the problem with the house for years by reassigning the use of the front two rooms in the house, both of which were ill conceived and dysfunctional bedrooms. The front door of the original house opened into what was the original living room. That space was later used as the main floor bedroom. A prior renovation added a stairway to the second floor which made the space clumsy and almost too small for a bed. Besides, who wants to enter a home by going in the bedroom? There was another small bedroom suitable for a crib or may usable as an office. The new owner redirected the stairway to the east side of the house where the main entry was relocated forevermore. The crib room was divided and became two new bathrooms. The front bath is en-suite to the bedroom. A second guest bath has entry off the living room which is the main sawtooth addition in the middle.

The upstairs was tweaked and spaces that were funky became ever so inviting. I could not have ever imagined the bathroom in that house could look as wonderful as it became. The door in the middle of the upper bedroom opens out to the  second floor porch that overlooks quiet Petronia Street. I could just imagine how restful it would be to sit there late at night listening to not much of anything.

The new owner cleaned up years of neglect around the pool area. The deck was replaced and an awning added. New tropical plants were added. Two large coconut palms on either side of the pool and the large canopy of trees in the neighboring yard frame the view as if it were a piece of art. It is picture perfect.


I took more photos which you can see if you CLICK HERE. 1411 Petronia Street is offered for sale at $949,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet and to view the listing photos.

1411 Petronia Street is located three blocks east of White Street. It's a long walk or a quick bike ride over to Duval Street or the Seaport. Most of the island's gyms and yoga studios are located within a few blocks which makes it an easy walk to do your daily exercise routine. Bayview Park is a couple of blocks to the south. The city's bandstand and public tennis courts are located there as well. This is a very nice and comfortable neighborhood where most of the homes have been updated. While this home does not have off street parking, parking is not a problem here. Most of the houses are single family and there are no commercial activities competing for on street parking. I do believe this home would make a wonderful vacation rental. It has everything a vacation renter could want.

If you would like to see this nifty home, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida. If you snooze on this, you will lose and that is a fact. This is a real buying opportunity.

1411 Petronia Street - The Meadows Area - Key West

Just listed, but not by me, is a newly completed renovation of an absolutely charming two bedroom two bath home in the quiet Meadows Area of Key West. I wrote about this property a couple of years ago when it was offered as a short sale. I even had a buyer who made an offer that was accepted and we went through months of negotiation with the prior owners' lender and eventually got the short sale approved. Then my buyer decided not to buy. The buyer did not do the inspection. The buyer got cold feet. So the very disappointed seller had to start the process over again. Months later the short sale was approved and a new owner bought the house. The floor plan was thoughtfully redesigned and spaces meticulously updated. When I walked into this house my jaw dropped!

I had stood in the middle sawtooth addition to the origninal small eyebrow house many times and told potential buyers what they might do to the property to make the space more functional. Buyers often imagine huge costs and horrendous contractor experiences (too much HGTV home remodel nightmares). The new owner did what I imagined and combined two smaller rooms (the old kitchen and a wrongly placed bathroom) into a lovely new kitchen with a captivating view of the lush tropical pool. Except my vision in no way conceived of how great the space could or would become. BRAVO!

The new owner fixed what had been the problem with the house for years by reassigning the use of the front two rooms in the house, both of which were ill conceived and non-functional bedrooms. The front door of the house opened into what was the original living room. A prior renovation added a stairway to the second floor which made the space clumsy and almost too small for a bed. Besides, who wants to enter a home by going in the bedroom? There was another small bedroom suitable for a crib or may usable as an office. The new owner redirected the stairway to the east side of the house where the main entry was relocated forevermore. The crib room became two new bathrooms. The front bath is en suite to the bedroom. A second guest bath has entry off the living room which is the main sawtooth addition in the middle. The former tiny kitchen with small under counter refrigerator and freezer and tiny dishwasher was ripped out. The adjacent bath was also removed. The wall between the two rooms was removed and the resultant large new space was outfitted with a deluxe new kitchen that screams panache!

The upstairs was tweaked and spaces that were funky became ever so inviting. I could not have ever imagined the bathroom in that house could look as wonderful as it became. The door in the middle of the bedroom opens out to the front second floor porch that overlooks quiet Petronia Street. I could just imagine how cook it would be to sit there late at night listening to not much of anything.

The new owner cleaned up years of neglect to the pool area. The deck was replaced and an awning added. New tropical plants were added. The two large coconut palms on either side of the pool and the large canopy of trees in the neighboring yard and new tropical foliage added to the rear yard make this space lush. It is picture perfect. I invited myself to sit down at the table and imagined drinking a Bloody Mary. Aah!


I took more photos which you can see if you CLICK HERE. 1411 Petronia Street is offered for sale at $895,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet and to view the listing photos. The house has just 1120 sq ft of living space so the asking price on a per sq ft basis may bother some people who shop for houses like they shop for body soap: they shop by the price of the bar. Some soaps smell great and cost a lot. Some soaps are cheap and do the job. Some soaps are a bit rough like Lifebuoy. Other soaps like Caress cost more but do more, like caress your skin.

1411 Petronia Street is located three blocks east of White Street. It's a long walk or a quick bike ride over to Duval Street or the Seaport. Most of the island's gyms and yoga places are located within a few blocks which makes it an easy walk to do your daily exercise routine. Bayview Park is a couple of blocks to the south. The city's bandstand and public tennis courts are located there. This is a very nice and comfortable neighborhood where most of the homes have been updated. While this home does not have off street parking, parking is not a problem here. Most of the houses are single family and there are no commercial activities competing for on street parking.

If you would like to see this nifty home, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida. If you snooze on this, you will lose and that is a fact. This is a real buying opportunity.

1411 Petronia Street - Old Town - Key West

Notice the sweet second level front porch located off Master Bedroom

Sawtooth addition behind the original Eyebrow house

Inviting Old Fashioned Front Porch Perfect for Sitting or Doing Nothing

The Eyebrow House at 1411 Petronia Street is now offered for just $400,000. This is a short sale. The lender recently approved the price and the buyer decided not to buy. I know this house fairly well. I think this is a great price for a house in Old Town with a pool.

The listing Realtor describes the property this way:

"New price of $400,000 is firm. Renovated 3 bedroom (as per Monroe Co. and Realist tax records), 2 full bath historic eyebrow house in The Meadows. Original Dade County pine floors, walls and ceilings throughout the house. There is a new pool with landscaping and decking in the large yard, which is totally fenced for privacy. This is a potential Short Sale that may be subject to third party approval."

In my opinion the present layout of the rooms is not as efficient as it could. One bedroom is fairly small, one is in an odd location, and the third bedroom is located just fine on the second floor. (It has a really cute front porch of the second floor bedroom.) The living room is nice and large but the kitchen is small. The kitchen and the downstairs bath are on the north side of the house. The deck and pool are located just north of the kitchen and bathroom so there are no inside views of the pool or garden. Some new owner might want to move things around a bit. But things have "worked" okay for previous owners.

I included a couple of photos of Petronia Street. This is a nice and quite street just a couple of blocks east of White Street. Duval Street and Bayview Park are within walking distance although Duval is further away.

The opposite side of Petronia Street

1400 block of Petronia Street

The large pool, tropical foliage, and great location (coupled with the price of just $400,000) make this house a great buy at that price. This house ought to sell within a few days now that the price has hit rock bottom. Take advantage of this great deal today.

CLICK HERE to checkout the mls listing information on this property and to view photos 0f 1411 Petronia. For comparison purposes I created a list of other houses for sale in Key West priced at or under $400,000. CLICK HERE to compare 1411 Petronia Street with those houses. Better yet, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a showing. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida.