1021 Washington Street - Casa Marina Estate Property - Key West

In a place like Key West where there are so many "one of a kind" properties, it sometimes seems silly of me to tout a listing as being one of a kind. But I must on 1021 Washington Street which is located in the Casa Marina area of Key West. There is not another property like it.

Look at the photo above. Look at it. It just shouts "Old Florida!" Old Florida before the invasion of the hordes of snowbirds, the colonization of South Beach, the gayification of Fort Lauderdale, and the gentrification of Key West.

The pre-World War II architecture is so simple and elegant. The listing Realtor describes 1021 Washington Street this way:

"Remarkable Casa Marina Estate like no other! Stately historic residence situated on a massive 27,000 + sq. ft. of land, one of the largest residential estates in Key West, on the corner of Washington Street and Whalton Street. Beautifully maintained and lovingly cared for over the course of 74 years by the same family. Totaling 6 lots laid out in an L shape with 4 consecutive vacant lots facing Whalton Street that can be divided. 3 structures in total which include the main historic home, guest house and 3-car garage. Gorgeous meandering gardens and lush landscape manicured to perfection and irrigated by 6 wells. Rare opportunity with many possibilities for development or subdivision."

I live a half block from this house. I drive past it every day. It is like having a private park located across the street. Something pretty and graceful that has a timeless beauty never to be touched. But then the Realtor suggests the property could be "developed". Heavens No! There must be some buyer out there that will see this beautiful property for what it is and has the money to preserve it just as it is.

This CLICK HERE is a photo of the side yard at 1021 Washington that was taken from the house next door to the north. And CLICK HERE to read all of the listing information and view lots of interior and exterior photos of this great estate property.

I have written at least a gazillion times about the charm and convenience of living in the Casa Marina area. We are close to everything. But we are not living in the midst of it all. We are near the beaches. We are within walking distance (it's a 10 minute walk at least) to Old Town. We are five minutes to the Key West International Airport. And we are five minutes to any of the three shopping centers. There are several gyms, many galleries, the Dairy Queen, a pre-school and an elementary school within three blocks. Louies Backyard and Salute on the Beach are two minutes by foot. If you can afford this place, which is offered at $4,500,000, you might have a yacht (or at least a good sized boat). We got several convenient marinas that are also located nearby.

If you are looking for an estate property such as this, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, 0r e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty Inc. in Key West, Florida. Our office is an affiliate of Christie's Great Estates. I live nearby and I would love to welcome you to the neighborhood.

News We Do Not Need

We live on a small island in the middle of the ocean, and when something happens here news travels fast.

There was a terrible tragedy today at the Key West International Airport. I've been griping for a long time about the insanity of building a new airport when the old one, the one we all love, works just fine. And now this.

GO HERE to read the developing story on the ramp collapse that killed one construction worker at the airport earlier today.

Won't You be My Neighbor?

I have used that title so many times it is beginning to sound like a record. Wait a minute, it is.

There is a beautiful two-story double galleried home at 1127 Von Phister that is one of the prettiest properties in the Casa Marina area. It has great curb appeal and splendid gardens. There is a master suite downstairs. Upstairs there are two guest rooms with a balcony on the front and a deep sun deck on the rear that overlooks the heated swimming pool. The recent renovation includes a beautiful new kitchen inside and an outdoor kitchen. There is also a half bath and an outdoor shower poolside. CLICK HERE for more pics and details on this home.

The house is a five minute walk or take a bike ride to the Atlantic Ocean and the beach. This is the real deal my friend. And the good thing is you won't have any sand in your feet by the time you walk back home. Of course you can ride your bike or drive your car or scooter.

You can also walk or bike over to Duval Street(5 minutes); or go down to the shops on White Street like Faustos or go to the Island Gym and watch me lift weights in the early morning (2 minutes): or you can grab a cafe con leche at any of the several neighborhood joints. You can be at the Historic Key West Seaport as fast on your bike as in your car (if you consider parking in your travel time) (5 minutes). And you can be in the Key West suburbs at the shopping centers or leave on a jet plane (we got 'em) at the Key West International Airport, all within a 5 minute drive from 1127 Von Phister.

The house is priced at $1,595,000 or $1,045 per sq ft. It has just about everything going for it (including having me as your neighbor--I live 4 doors to the west). And the location is not only convenient, but also very quiet. We don't have a lot of tourists on our little street. And we don't have lots of apartments or guest houses or other things that attract locals from all parts of town. You kind of have to want to go to Von Phister to go there. You don't just end up there on your way to someplace else.

This is not my listing, but don't let that stop you from calling me to show you this house. I won't steer you wrong because we could end up being neighbors. 1-305-766-2642. Or email at kw1101v@aol.com.

There's No Place Like Home--if you live in Key West

I was in Atlanta last weekend buying fixtures for my soon to be remodeled house in Key West. During the ride in from the airport the cab driver told me that greater Atlanta now has about 5.5 million people. The next day I took a cab to the Buckhead area for dinner. There was an accident and traffic was backed up for miles. The next night another cab ride to the same area. Another accident knocked out traffic on I-75 for more than 24 hours.

The buildings in Atlanta are huge. The streets are congested. And there are so many people. I was in culture shock. I am not used to all that commotion. By contrast the buildings in Key West are in scale to our little island. The Hotel La Concha is the tallest building in Key West and it only has six floors. Some of the hotels on Roosevelt Boulevard have three floors, but most of the rest of the commercial and residential properties in Key West are either single or two story structures. The City of Key West adopted an ordinance a few years back limiting the height and density of new construction and it seems to be working quite well.

Some developers have been litigating the restrictions imposed by the city ordinance. And most of the lawsuits have been adjudicated in favor of the developers. But I think most of the residents of Key West really appreciate the height restrictions. We want to keep our little piece of Paradise pretty much the way it is. That does not mean we don't want to grow, but we want to keep growth in proportion.

Our major streets get congested during season and on busy weekends such as this one--it's Poker Run weekend. But most of the time you can drive your car or scooter just about anywhere without delay except if you go by a school or during our 5:00 PM rush hour (that lasts about 5 minutes).

And as for people, we have around 25,000 full time residents and depending on the day and time of year we could have 10,000 visitors such as are expected this weekend. This summer has been relatively quiet as compared to prior years in part, I think, because many visitors grew wary of mandatory evacuations imposed by over-zealous county or city officials fearing hurricanes over the past few years. Upper Duval has been especially quiet this year. And lower Duval has experienced some financial woes as well. Fast Buck Freddies has a huge Summer Sale sign in its windows. Fast Bucks never has a sale.

We make choices in life and there are a lot of us 25,000 full time residents who could live somewhere else and do what we did before we moved here and make more money in the process. But then if you are just living in the process as opposed to living your dream, what is the point. You could be tied up in traffic congestion in a city like Atlanta, Miami, Boston, or any other larger metropolitan area. You could have 5.5 million "neighbors" if you live in Atlanta. You could live in a co-op way up in the sky or live in a five story walk-up in SoHo if you live in New York City.

If you are tired of living in the process and want to live your dream, CLICK HERE to checkout all of the current mls listings for the Key West area. Then give me a call at 305-766-2642 for more information. There is no place like home if you are fortunate enough to live in Key West.

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There's no place like home

There's no place like home

Season is upon us and Key West is full of people. The tall ships are here for Race Week and the town is full of your regular run-of-the-mill tourists as well. See photo of one of the tourists to the right...

Those of us who are fortunate enough to live here full time often think that tourists view Key West as if it were Disneyland. Heck, they walk right into traffic to take pics of each other without looking to see if that car really wanted to move.

I found the photo to the right of Duval Street depicting the street as if it were a model. This is a real town despite what tourists think. There are 25,000 odd folks who live here full time. And 12 normal folk.

Finally, there is the pic of Key West International Airport. I love that little airport. Get here before it is rebuilt to look like every other airport in the country. There is nothing finer than returning home to Key West late at night and seeing that old welcome sign. Then you get off the ramshackle plane and smell the Key West air. It does smell different than air in America. (And it's not the ocean. It's just plain old Key West air. Maybe I'll start to bottle it and sell in on Ebay.) Then you grab a cab and go fast down South Roosevelt towards town. The cabbie tells you everything that happened since you went away. Those guys are the repositories of the social history of Key West. Man, there is nothing like coming home.