712 Love Lane - Key West - Short Sale

If you have been waiting to find that perfect place that you can tinker with just a bit to make it fit your personal needs, I offer for your consideration one of the prettiest properties in Old Town Key West - 712 Love Lane.  This property is back on the market.  It is now offered as a Short Sale at the asking price of $995,000.

The listing broker describes this hidden gem this way:

"One of the island's best kept secrets. This 4/3 triple saw tooth shotgun proved inspirational to many. Harry Roberts was the model for Harry Morgan in Hemingway's To Have & Have Not''. Many other writers have been inspired by this gem, secluded behind the library palm garden. The main home & separate guest cottage with bath open to the private deck & 9' deep heated lap pool with outdoor shower. Cypress shutters & cypress cabinets with travertine tops in the kitchen & dining area. Off Fleming Street at the end of Love Ln. with off-street parking. Home is now unfurnished. Short Sale, buyer responsible for $8,750 negotiator fee. This is NOT an approved price by the banks."

 A vistor to Key West snapped the above photo of 712 Love Lane during an open house and posted it on her Instragram page along with this comment: "Touring a secluded gem on Love Lane that has provided inspiration to many distinguished authors..." with a series of hash tags.  It's wonderful how people that see places like this just fall in love with Key West and the little houses we call home.

If you are a hopeless romantic you may fall in love with today's home when you read the address. But if you're a pragmatist you may actually need to walk to the end of the lane, open the gate, and enter garden before you fall in love with this home. And after that all hope is lost for you will be surely, truly, madly, deeply in love with 712 Love Lane.

 In her book Key West Houses author Leslie Lindsey described 712 Love Lane as "an enchanting environment with a brick-and-stone patio and overhead trellis laden with cascading bougainvillea."

Let me first tell you why it is so "secret" - it's because there are three separate "Love Lanes" each located near the other but far enough apart to totally confuse just above anyone. If you walk on the north side of Southard Street you will find a Love Lane sign located midway between William and Elizabeth Streets. If you walk down the lane you will find that the lane abruptly ends where a house sits and the lane ends. On the south side of Southard Street there is a small walking lane that leads back to a couple of smallish houses - this is also Love Lane. And if you are walking on the south side of Fleming Street just east of the Monroe County Library you will find the third segment of Love Lane that is a one-way lane that runs the length of the library plus an additional thirty feet or so where it abruptly ends at a gate that leads to three homes.  In his book The Streets of Key West author J. Willis Burke explains the confusion about Love Lane:

"Love can generate some confusion - and Love Lane is no exception. Some maps show to Loves, one coming off Fleming and another off Southard, but not meeting mid-block. Other maps indicate Gwynn Street, named for a former mayor and cigar tycoon E. O. Gwynn, is the lane that runs off Southard. And yet another source cites Johnny Cake Lane as making up the northern half of Love Lane. At one time perhaps it did... As confirmed by the loving couple who lives on the Fleming Street side of the lane, both are now called Love Lane. It seems they don't meet because the bungalow that bisects the lane was built on the sly, and over the decades, has been grandfathered and let stand."

Love Lane adjacent to the Monroe County Library Garden

712 Love Lane is located at the end of the quiet little lane

I searched the old Sanborn Fire Maps and found what I believe to be 712 Love Lane. Love Lane existed and was named the same in the 1889 Sanborn Map, but the houses were not numbered. I checked the maps for later years and the house still stands where as the larger house at the corner at Fleming is gone. Today that space is the library garden. The early cottage was simple. I dug into the old shoebox and found 712 Love Lane is it was photographed in 1965 - below.

Like so many places in Old Town, this home has been added onto over the years. Rooms, multiple decks, a pool, a guest cottage are pieces that slowly became parts of a new whole. According to the listing agent what was once a small cottage is now a 1462 sq ft home with three bedrooms in the main house plus the guest cottage or pool house which declares to a bedroom. Below are photos of this home as it looked when still owner occupied.

When you enter the home you see the dining room on the right. It's a magnificent space with soaring ceiling, a library wall once crammed with books and windows that look out to the garden of the Monroe County Library, and the front porch. A quiet little reading nook completes this space.

On the opposite side of the room is the living area with walls that seem to reach to heaven. Cedar shutters line the French doors on the south side which filter the view of the pool. Art has found a home on these walls which themselves become a piece of art. Look through the open door and view the first of three bedrooms in the main house. Notice the pickled wood flooring that is light and practical and in harmony with the house.

Pine walls were whitewashed which allowed the pink tones of the wood to show through. Louvered cedar shutters open out to the pool.

I found it difficult to pick a favorite spot because each room or space is so precious in its own right. I love the spartan bedroom with the single bed. It has a window that looks out to library garden. The shutter lined master bedroom made me want to jump on the bed and take a nap. The gauzy front bedroom begged me to peer through the shutters out to the pool. And then there is that insane kitchen with the soaring ceiling and handmade cedar cabinets. You absolutely positively cannot buy that charm from Home Depot or IKEA here. This kitchen was created with LOVE in mind.

The pool is located on the south side of the property. Some pools that face south get an hour or so of sun each day. This pool should stay sunny most of the day throughout most of the year. Sometimes buyers miss things like that. It's always nice to have a pool with some sun and some shade. Not all people are bronzed gods and not all gods need to bake all day. The guest cottage or pool house (or fourth bedroom) is located at the far end of the pool.

The pool house (guest cottage) is located at the far end of the pool.  I walked inside and looked at the room and my jaw dropped. Who wouldn't love to sleep, or take a nap, or do other stuff in this place? The cottage has a tiny bath so if could function as a bedroom. This space is so restful.

I was nearing the end of taking photos when I snapped the above picture. I told the listing agent that Ralph Lauren must have created this space - it is just perfect!  He didn't, but I think you get what I mean. CLICK HERE to see all of the photos I took of 712 Love Lane.

Kevin N. McCarthy's book The Book Lover's Guide to Florida: Authors, Books and Literary Sites notes that author William Wright lived at 712 Love Lane (for about ten years). The present owners purchased this home from Wright in 1987. They created a masterpiece.  712 Love Lane is now vacant.  All of the furnishings are gone.  The house and garden await the vision of a new owner. The house needs painted and maybe the baths need updated. The house, however, is a little masterpiece that only needs preserved - not remade.

This property was rented during the 2013 season as a vacation rental at $15,000 per month.  I think a new owner might improve on the monthly rental a bit.  You could not ask for a better location than this home. And I don't think there are many houses that are as picturesque as this.  

CLICK HEREto view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet and to view listing photos. If you would like to see 712 Love Lane with me, Gary Thomas, please call me a 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Property Key West. You'll fall in love with this secluded gem!

809 Eaton Street - Key West - Short Sale of Significant Importance

809 Eaton Street in Key West is now offered as a Short Sale at the asking price of $2,295,000. That's a lotta money! But this is a lotta house!  The listing Realtor describes the property this way:

"Classic 1800's Old Town property which is a combination of the Henry Lowe House and the Samuel Kemp House, built in 1840. This 5 bedroom / 4.5 bath 3 story home with 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom guest cottage has all the amenities you're looking for! This historic home offers a spacious living area with large open kitchen which is great for entertaining. Additional features include large porches throughout, high ceilings, Dade County Pine, hardwood flooring, large covered deck, fantastic pool & Jacuzzi & off-street parking. Converted cistern as wine cellar. There is also a 60,000 watt generator so you're never in the dark. On the National Registry of Historic Places."

I have written about this property before.  809 Eaton Street in Key West dates back to circa 1840 when it was built for Henry Lowe. The house was totally restored and enlarged in 2005 when it was featured in the Old Island Foundation House Tour. Today this home is one of the finest examples of a Bahamian styled home located in the Old Town Historic District.

Many of the Key West's founding fathers were expatriates from the Bahamas. They brought with them the architectural style and construction techniques with which they were familiar.  Bahamian styled houses were placed on piers and had wood frames and had tall ceilings and large windows with Bahama shutters which permitted air to circulate through the house to provide natural cooling. The houses were built with wood clapboard siding. This home has a stunning wrap-around porch on the first and second levels.

I dug deep into the old shoebox and found a photo of the roof of 809 Eaton Street (black and white photo immediately below) that from 1914.  I just love the look of Key West back in the day. You can see that the Historic Seaport is only a couple of blocks away. Note all of the smaller buildings which back then were cook houses or privies.  I found another photo of 809 Eaton Street that was taken in 1965 (black and white photo second below). The house would have been about 125 years old when that pic was taken. The large building in the foreground is the backside of the Island City House.  Nearly half a century later 809 Eaton Street looks as prominent as ever (color photo below).

I recently found a photo of 809 Eaton Street that was taken in the 1960's from the Island City House located across the street. The outline of a man standing on the porch reminds me of Freddy in the Nightmare on Elm Street. I took a photo from the same location just to prove the point that once what was is often still the same on our little island where historic homes are preserved - not destroyed.

This house has 4712 sq ft of living space divided between the main house and the guest cottage. The main house is a very large three story home. The main floor includes a spacious living room, dining room, family room, and extra large kitchen and pantry. The master bedroom with en-suite bath is also located on the main floor at the left rear of the home.  There are multiple sets of French doors that line the back of the house that open out to the loggia that overlooks the long rectangular pool, garden, and guest cottage. Dual entryways from the living area flow into the informal family room and kitchen at the rear. This creates a feeling of less formality than the photos rich with architectural detail might suggest.

The gracious staircase leads to the second floor where there are three bedrooms and baths. Each of these bedrooms open onto the wrap-around second floor porch. A smaller staircase leads to the third floor which has a dormitory style bedroom plus bath which as a view looking toward the Gulf of Mexico in the distance and the pool, garden, and guesthouse in the foreground. If you counted them, there are four bedrooms and baths in the main house plus a fifth bedroom and bath in the guest cottage.

This home would make a great vacation rental. There are just a few homes as large as this in Key West. This home ought to appeal to wedding parties, family reunions, friends travelling together, and business groups that require sophisticated lodging in an understated luxury environment. 

The interior finishes and materials are all of the highest quality. While the house is rich in history and the house itself has several formal living spaces, most of the living areas on the inside and outside are quite relaxed. The family room and kitchen are essentially one large living space with a vaulted ceiling with skylights and multiple sets of French doors that bathe the space in light.

It is the outdoor living area that will probably entice that special buyer to select this home. The rear loggia overlooks the pool and spa which are surrounded by bricked walkways and sunning areas. The guest cottage on the west side was built as part of the 2005 restoration and expansion. The cottage has a separate sitting area in the bedroom, bath, and mini-kitchen each with views of the pool.


The home has two off street parking spots - one adjacent to the front entrance and a second at the rear.  The whole house generator will provide electricity to keep you comfortable and cozy in the event of power failure elsewhere on the island. CLICK HERE to view more photos of this incredible Key West property.

This is a very large house with an extra large guest cottage. You can see it has a great outdoor entertaining area with an extra large sunny pool. The property is located two blocks south of the Historic Key West Seaport and only four blocks from Duval Street.

Nearby Key West Seafood Market

 The mortgage on this Short Sale property is held by a local Key West lender. That suggests to me that a serious offer would get serious and prompt consideration by that lender. I have negotiated a large short sale purchase with this same lender before. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and listing photos of this special Key West home which is a Short Sale offered at $2,295,000. If you area qualified buyer and would like to see this special home, please call me, Gary Thomas 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.