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| 532 Fleming Street - Key West - April 2013 |
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| 532 Fleming Street - Key West - 1912 |
The house pictured above looks pretty much the same
in 2013 as it did back in 1912 when the colored post card was made. Back
then the property was not a "house" but was instead the Louise Maloney
Hospital.
Thank God that when other towns across
America were allowing old houses and historic buildings to be torn down
to erect new structures, Key West preserved properties like this. I
found a photo of 532 Fleming Street taken from the parking lot next door
which is where the world famous Faustos' Food Emporium is located
today.
The
red brick building at 500 Simonton Street (photographed in 1965) was
the old corner drug store. That makes sense with the hospital located
next door. 504 Simonton Street (below) became part of the hospital as
well.
I
did a quick internet search and learned a brief history of the three
properties which were once owned by the Maloney family which later
became the Spottswood family.
CLICK HERE to view a brief history of the Spottswood Family which mentions the Louise Maloney Hospital.
CLICK HERE
to read a brief discussion of the three building complex. A member of
the Spottswood family still resides at 500 Simonton Street today.
The
current owner of 532 Fleming Street commissioned local artist Ronny
Bailey to create a depiction of the former Louise Maloney Hospital. I
was offered the opportunity to photograph the piece yesterday morning. A
crowd had assembled to gaze at the new piece. Everyone was in awe of
Ronny's creation. Please take a couple of minutes to view a few of the
photos.
Ronny Bailey is a fourth generation conch that spent 30 years of his life restoring
many of the old houses in Key West. A few years ago he started fooling
around with some salvaged Dade County Pine and created his first new old
house replica. His wife came home and exclaimed "I didn't know you
could do that!" Ronny replied "Neither did I." And so began his new
career as artist-carpenter where he creates miniature near replicas of
real houses in Key West using salvaged lumber. Ronny stresses that he
only uses old salvaged wood to construct the houses. He doesn't paint
the pieces. Instead he relies on the ravages of our sun and the weather
to create the natural patina that make each piece look so genuine.
Ronny's inner artist comes out when he adds a bit of whimsy to his work such as a
rooster or a cat napping.
Since
the 532 Fleming Street was commissioned by the owner, Ronny agreed to
paint that piece to show the original glory of the house. The dog, cat,
and whimsy were not permitted, but Ronny did manage to keep in the three
little words that are the hallmark of his blessed life.
CLICK HERE to view more photos of 532 Fleming Street as well as 500 and 504 Simonton
Street as they appear today. I added a couple of photos of art created
by another of my favorite artists, Rick Worth, who did a rendering of
500 Simonton Street.
There are a lot of artists in Key West. There is only one Ronny Bailey!
