Buyers who missed getting that special little Key West house at an affordable price should take note of the new listing at
711 Olivia Street in Key West. I had an opportunity to show this sweet, but untouched in decades, Old Town home a short time ago. I think it has a lot of potential for that special someone with an urge to renovate. I dug down into my old shoebox and found the black and white photo below taken back in 1965. Note the two story house located next door to the east. I could not find a photo of that place. That two story house has since been razed and a new one story garage sits in its place. The lot measures 67' X 50' (3340 sq ft).
I then searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps and quickly learned that this home appeared in the 1889 Sanborn Map and was then identified as 418 Olivia Street. The street number was changed to 711 Olivia Street on the 1892 map. The house sits at the corner of Galveston Lane. Last year I wrote about the house next door to the rear at 845 Galveston Lane (photo below). That eyebrow house underwent a thorough renovation and expansion and then sold for a whopping $2,300,000 in September 2016. The one and a half story home to the west is currently under renovation.
The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows 711 Olivia Street as having 1124 sq ft under air with first floor having 624 sq ft and the second floor 520. (I took the floor area measurements from the Appraiser's website.) The difference between first and second floor area is the rear one story sawtooth addition to the main structure. Renovations of homes like this normally change the total interior configuration. Back in the old days these houses had smaller one purpose rooms. Today I could envision a new owner rearranging the layout, vaulting the ceiling in the sawtooth addition, adding French doors on the east side to open out to the new pool. Just as the Galveston Lane eyebrow house was transformed into a thing of beauty, the charming facade of 711 Olivia and its interior will be updated to look and function with 21st century perfection.
Longtime blog readers may know that our Historic Architectural Renovation Commission will have to approve any renovation of this property including what might be done to the existing 359 sq ft garage. I was surprised to learn that the garage includes a toilet. That suggests to me that a new owner might try to include that building as a part of the renovation of the entire property. It might become a guest cottage. Someone more ambitious might try to add a second story - a two story house used to exist there. First first thought was to raze garage to create a large pool and garden area. The thought occurred of adding a small linear pool between the main house and the converted guest house. There still would be off street parking space available at the front of the lot.
711 Olivia Street is an easy stroll to Duval Street located two blocks to the west. Olivia Street is one of the longest streets in Old Town. It runs from the edge of Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park and Beach to Eisenhower Drive - about 1.5 miles. Olivia is a one-way street and is used more by locals than tourists as they have no idea where they are going most of the time. There is a little neighborhood store located about two hundred feet east of this home. I should also mention an agent in our office sold the large two story house visible in the above earlier this year for $2.2 million. I suspect 711 Olivia would fetch a pretty heft price if it were to flipped rather than lived in by a new owner.
The listing agent informed me that this property has been actively shown in the past couple of weeks and advised any potential buyer to act quickly. That is good advice. I am surprised it is still available.
711 Olivia Street is offered for sale at
$650,000.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS for more detailed information and then please call me,
Gary Thomas,
305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.
