The Case of the Traveling Sofas in Key West

I moved to Key West Christmas week in 1993. I had purchased the former Eaton Lodge guesthouse located at 511 Eaton Street. The building had been shut down for about two years while the property was being foreclosed upon by the Small Business Administration.  The windows and doors were boarded up to keep thieves and the homeless out.  The former owners left all of the furnishings including antique pieces of furniture acquired by their predecessors plus two white slip covered sofas of recent origin which were located  in the living room of the house once  owned William Warren, the town doctor. After we took possession we decided to keep the Eastlake pieces and all of the wood furniture but opted to put the two sofas out on the street. We knew someone would want those sofas even if we didn't.

We had barely got the second sofa placed on the sidewalk when this older man stopped and asked what we were doing and inquired if he might have the sofas. We had not had time to put the cushions on the sofas. He was delighted to learn that the sofas had cushions as well. Then he asked if we could hold the sofas until he could get a friend to help him move the sofas. I said yes. My partner and I moved the sofas back inside until the man returned with a younger man in his late thirties or early forties. I helped the younger man put thes sofas in his aged Toyota. He made several trips carrying the sofas and cushions to some other location. The older man introduced himself as David Wolkowsky.

A year or so later my partner and I started to look at houses in Key West including a a newly built spec house on Admirals Lane in Truman Annex. I recall the asking price was $500,000.  The builder was David Wolkowsky. My two former sofas were located in the living room of this house. I laughed. I did not buy the house. I should have. That house is now worth around $2,000,000.

A few years later I saw the same two sofas inside a house David Wolkowsky had renovated on Washington Street in the Casa Marina East area,

I saw those same two sofas for the very last time on March 15, 2015 during an early evening Realtors Open House. This time they were located poolside near the giraffe. David Wolkowsky was hosting this open house to attract agents to sell another of his renovation projects.

I got a phone call a couple of years ago from David. He had just finished a renovation on property which abutted a house I had listed. He called me to discuss the outrageous price I had on my listing. I told him the seller set the price, not me. He sounded genuinely angry at the price. He said "Do you know who I am?" I said I did. He sold his house. My listing did not sell and has still not sold.

David Wolkowsky

David Wolkowsky died Sunday night. He was 99 years old. An article in the Miami Herald included this passage:

"He had celebrated his birthday on Aug. 25 in true Wolkowsky style: a house full of free-spirited guests, clouds of white orchids, popping champagne corks and his sister, Ruth Greenfield of Miami, a classically trained concert pianist and civil rights pioneer, playing happy birthday on the grand piano as the crowd sang along. He presided from the white couch, dressed in linen, his trademark Panama hats stacked nearby. And instead of receiving gifts, he gave them: a black pearl necklace in a jeweler’s box for each of the several dozen women who attended."

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article218928945.html#storylink=cpy

1428 White Street - Casa Marina Area - Key West

Just listed (but not by me) 1428 White Street in the Casa Marina Area of Key West, Florida.  This home was built in 2000 by David Wolkowsky, the man who built the world famous Pier House at the foot of Duval Street. Wolkowsky built many homes in Key West over the years. His properties are legendary.  This is one of them.

Wolkowsky's homes are not the typical reinterpretations of  old Conch houses with white picket fences you might expect to see in Key West. Instead, his homes evoke a sense of destination, grandeur, and purpose coupled with a bit of mystery.  What might be a driveway in an ordinary home is a bricked entry pepped with tropical foliage. A story high fence and giant Balinese doors let visitors know that this must be someplace important. The doors and privacy wall are more than decoration. They provide both a sophisticated electronic security system for the property and also filter street noise. (I promised not to elaborate.)

 

The Balinese doors lead to the a covered portico along the south side of the home which welcomes the owner or guest to the rear courtyard with its serene 31' pool with fountains at either end.  The dense tropical foliage become a Garden of Eden - or something like it.

I took more photos of this sophisticated home which you can view if you CLICK HERE. As you view the photos note that the travertine floors on the first floor of the home continue out to the covered lanai. The living room measures 24' and has two walls of French doors that, coupled with the travertine, bring the outside in and take the inside out to expand the living potential of both.

 

The home has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and 1680 sq ft of refined space divided between two floors. The first floor "bedroom" is used by the current owner as a den.  Two sets of double doors provide either privacy or open the area to expand the first floor living area to even greater proportions. The adjacent bath serves both the den/bedroom and the kitchen on the opposite wall.  Having the potential to use this space as a bedroom in later years is an option worth considering.   You never know when climbing stairs might become an issue.

The kitchen has rich wood cabinets that reach to the ceiling. The marble counter tops, like the travertine floors on the main level and the wood floors on the second floor, are natural earth tones that unify the house with the external environment.

The front bedroom makes a great guest area. The room has an en-suite bath and an extra large closet and dressing area. The master suite is located at the rear. It also has an en-suite bath which features slate tiles on the floors and walls that for me at least cooled down the space. The bath is so unexpectedly exotic.

1428 White Street offers both worldly and practical living in tropical splendor for the asking price of $850,000.  This property would make a great full time residence or a second home that you might consider renting as a vacation rental. The White Street Pier, Higg's Beach (with its "thing"), the doggie park, and the Atlantic Ocean are located just a couple of blocks to the south. Salute on the Beach and Louie's Backyard are within walking distance as are several of the gyms and yoga studios.  Vacation guests will love this part of town and you will too if any part of your life involves fitness or being by the sea.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to set up a private showing of this wonderful Key West home. You will another property in Key West that has as many fine features as this home at this price. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. I am the Realtor to the dreamers. Let me take you to a place you have never been before. Sit down in the living room or by the pool or the balcony overlooking the pool. Pretend this is your new home. You just may not go back to New Jersey or wherever from whence you came.

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