804 Elizabeth Street, Key West - A Perfect Perch on Buzzard's Roost

I went on Realtor Caravan this morning and saw several homes in the Mid-Town and New-Town areas of Key West. Realtors are not supposed to comment negatively about other agents listings so I won't except to say many of the homes built in the mid to later part of the Twentieth Century looked pretty much the same given the year they were built and those that have been recently renovated often look like the owners and contractors got all of their inspiration from Home Depot. Enough said.

Shortly after Caravan I was invited to a Broker's Open at 804 Elizabeth Street hosted by a former colleague, Jeff Dunaway. He was sitting barefoot on a swing on the front porch of the classic Eyebrow House. I asked if I should remove my shoes. No, he said. He invited me inside to eat the catered lunch. I opted instead to look about the house as I had not been inside for several years. I was eager to see the changes. I remembered the pool as being large and very sun-lit as in not having minimal landscaping. I was eager to see the pool which appeared shortly after I entered the house. i saw the pool as I moved from the living room thru the dining room and later a small study at the rear.

The original house dates back to 1874 and has been expanded and renovated by successive owners I dug down into my old shoe box and found a the black and white photo  (below) of the house that was taken in 1965. Two saw tooth additions were added at the rear of the house which are now used as the dining room and study. A separate addition was added to the right rear where the master bedroom and bath are located. There is a small bedroom with bath at the right front of the house. There are three rooms located on the second floor which include a decent sized bedroom, hallway, ante-room, and bathroom.

French doors open from the rear of the master bedroom onto a separate porch overlooking the pool There is an outdoor shower on the far side of the pool. By the way none of the neighbors can see into the yard.

The kitchen opens into the dining room and has a separate glass door that opens out to the covered patio overlooking the pool. I sat pool side and ate two sandwiches and drank a bottle of water. I told Jeff, the Realtor, this house beast any thing we saw earlier in the day. It is among the top of the houses for sale in Old Town at the current time. It is just as cute as can be. That pool is to die for.

This home has a successful history as a monthly vacation rental. You can see why by looking a the photos. Except for the kitchen which is plain, there is nothing about this house that makes you think of Home Depot.  The Dade County Pine walls, the shutters, the pool, the additions and renovations show a totally unique house in a coveted Old Town location. There are two off street parking spaces as well.

While Key West has been inhabited since the early 1820s, most of the population was concentrated around the seaport. This house is located in an area referred to on the 1889 Sanborn Fire Map as Buzzards Roost because it is the highest point on the Island of Key West. Longtime Readers most likely know the area as Solaris Hill - the highest point in all of Key West. I kind of like Buzzard's Roost more. Look closely at the map where you will see notations as to Negro Tenements. I am pretty sure those buildings are now included in what has become the Merlin Guest House. The former convent at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church was located about three blocks south at Division Street (now Truman Avenue).

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos for 804 Elizabeth Street, Key West offered furnished at $1,999,000. The please call me Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. You will fall in love with this house!

1424 Caherine Street, Key West - Reduced Price

1424 Catherine Street, Key West is a cute little 1,274 square foot bungalow built in 1923 and located four blocks east of the old Key West high school (top photo). This area of town is referred to as mid-town. The asking price was just reduced to $630,000 which is $495 per sq ft. That is a very reasonable asking price for Key West.

The house sits on a corner lot with white picket fence and off street parking. And a sweet front porch.

The house may be a candidate for renovation but is livable as is.  The kitchen was updated and has nice views of the rear and side yard. I think there is room for a pool.

There is a mother-in-law lockout on the side of the house. This space would feature in any renovation. Until then you could ask your mother-in-law to pay her fair share of the costs of home ownership. I would. The house is located a couple of blocks from Bayview Park.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 1424 Catherine Street, Key West. Then call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

The Time I Saw Martin Luther King

I don't know what it is about old white men (I am one), but I'll bet they look at the picture of Andy, Barney, Opie, and Aunt Bea and recall that time as the "good old days". Well, I guess, I agree to part of that. I still watch the reruns - they are on TV everyday.  The Andy Griffith Show began in 1960 and reflected life in Mayberry, North Carolina, a fictional town with very nice white folks.

I was thirteen years old in 1960 and remember watching Andy and loving it. I never thought too much about there never (in the beginning) seeing any black characters. I guess they didn't have any black characters (or black actors) in the 1960s. Oh wait, they did have black actors. My mistake. 

I grew up in the western suburbs of Denver in the 1950s. I remember watching another Andy. He was the chubby black man with the cigar in the Amos 'N' Andy TV program. The show took place in Harlem and had the funniest characters and lines. I howled with delight when I watched these guys. I never thought of the show as black stereo-typing. There were no other black characters on TV back in the 1950s that I remember. I would see a black performer on the Ed Sullivan Show or maybe in a movie, but they were few.

There were no black people in my suburb or in my grade school, junior high, or high school.  Blacks were not allowed to live in Jefferson County, Colorado back then. It was the law. Subdivisions had restrictive covenants that disallowed non-whites to live in specific areas. There weren't any Mexicans either - well, one. A boy names Lupe was in my high school. Years later when I was a young gay adult lawyer in Denver, my Realtor told me and my partner that we could not buy a house in the Hilltop area because of restrictive covenants which disallowed non-married single people to buy houses together. This was in the early 1980s. I did not test it. It made me mad as hell. I had always been privileged. Now I was a victim of bias.

During the late fifties I watched the evening news on TV.  Douglas Edwards at CBS was my main source for news. Walter Cronkite replaced Edwards in 1962. The news wasn't any better then than it is now. In fact the news back then really rattled my forming brain as I was disturbed when I saw grainy black and white film of racial violence. Later videotape replaced the film. The violence was delivered to TV more quickly, but it was the same. It was always white government or white protesters assaulting black people or black people marching with signs. Or little black girls getting murdered in Sunday School. That kind of violence.

Two years later in Selma, Alabama this happened. I was in high school and could not imagine cops in Denver beating anybody up with  a baton for marching for Civil Rights. The march was peaceful. It was the government out of control.  America saw this on the nightly news.

Martin Luther King, Jr. became the leading Civil Rights figure of the twentieth century. He gave a voice and a presence that no other person has achieved - before or since. I got a chance to see him in person in Chicago in 1967 at the National Conference on New Politics. I wrote an entire blog about that event CLICK HERE.

On Monday night Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the speaker at a large old auditorium far away from the Palmer House Hotel where the conference was held. We had heard rumors all day long about some serious threats having been made against Dr. King.  It was feared Stokely Carmichael would disrupt the speech.  Carmichael was the leader of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and was also a part of the NCNP, but he was not supposed to be a part of King's speech.  My buddy and I arrived very early so we could sit up close to the stage. I think we were in the first or second row. I will never forget that night.  The Internet is a repository of all kinds of information.  I found that speech which you can listen to if you CLICK HERE.

The speech lasted about forty minutes. Dr. King referred to his "I Have a Dream" speech.  He spoke of racism, militarism, poverty, the unending War in Viet Nam. The speech I heard was not memorable in itself except that I got to see and hear him and watch up close at the look in his eyes when all hell broke loose at the back of the auditorium. He had been looking around the room as if he was expecting trouble.  About thirty minutes or so into the speech there was a clamor at the rear of the auditorium. I said the hall was old. It had panic doors with glass windows with wire to protect against breakage. The doors had those metal push bars to permit quit exit.  The doors were thrust open and people at the rear made a lot of noise. I looked back but could not see what was going on. I could tell some people tried to force their way inside. But they were forced back and not allowed to enter. That was the end of it.  Dr. King continued with his speech unphased except that he looked grateful that nothing more serious happened.  Of course, we all now what happened a year later.

And after King's death, President Lyndon Johnson got the Congress to enact the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act along with other legislation that established a lot of entitlement programs designed to help the all persons. In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula in the Civil Rights Act as unconstitutional, reasoning that it was no longer responsive to current conditions which made much of the act unenforceable.

During the following fifty years (yes fifty plus years) various politicians and groups have been doing their best to undo what King inspired and what Johnson achieved. 

Historic House Tour Jan 17 & 18 - Key West

 January 17th & 18th

3:00 PM to 7:00 PM

 The annual Key West Home Tours™ is one of the oldest and longest-running home tours in America, with the first tour in 1960. Old Island Restoration Foundation (OIRF) conducts the tours and they are funded in part by our generous supporters. Each tour features five lovely homes and gardens reflecting the varied tastes and originality of their owners.he annual Key West Home Tours™ is one of the oldest and longest-running home tours in America, with the first tour in 1960. Old Island Restoration Foundation (OIRF) conducts the tours and they are funded in part by our generous supporters. Each tour features five lovely homes and gardens reflecting the varied tastes and originality of their owners.he annual Key West Home Tours™ is one of the oldest and longest-running home tours in America, with the first tour in 1960.

Old Island Restoration Foundation (OIRF) conducts the tours and they are funded in part by our generous supporters. Each tour features five lovely homes and gardens reflecting the varied tastes and originality of their owners.he annual Key West Home Tours™ is one of the oldest and longest-running home tours in America, with the first tour in 1960. Old Island Restoration Foundation (OIRF) conducts the tours and they are funded in part by our generous supporters.

I have been inside and written blogs on all but one of the homes on this tour.  You must go and stay tuned later when I spill the beans about on of them.  Neighbors know what happened.  City officials know what happened.  I wonder if the docents will tell you.  Probably not. Sometimes we learn about our history second hand - hearsay.  It doesn't mean it did not happen.  Sometimes there are photos or recordings.

You will be escorted by the Conch Train to each location.  Start at The Oldest House Museum at 320 Duval Street.

416 Elizabeth Street - This place is incredible. The house is so beautiful and simple. Go to the rear to check out the incredible pool and gardens.  The above photo was taken in 2008.  Go see how much this home has been changed and preserved at the same time.

320 Peacon Lane - This is the house I have not been inside. Great little lane close to the Seaport and Duval Street.

730 Eaton Street - Beautiful Bahama House floated to Key West by some of the earliest settlers is located at the corner of Eaton and William Street. It is one of the most photographed houses in town. See why.

1024 Grinnell Street - Key West Fire House Museum.  The firemen did live there so it is a house of sorts. The above photo shows Ronny Bailey's folk art depiction of the old fire house. Locals cherish his unique historic preservation of memories of our older buildings.

912 Fleming Street - one of the iconic Grand Conchs in Key West. Tour guests will get a chance to see one of the most stunning pool settings in Key West.

I have been out of commission the past few days. I got into a street fight with two chickens.  I fell and got banged up pretty badly.  My right hand is in a cast. My face is bruised. My left leg has a big bruise and the right hip is bruised. Moral of story don't chase chickens. I may take up my Second Amendment Rights.