408 William Street, Key West - Ronny Bailey's Homage to the Old Bahama House

The thing that makes Key West different from every place else in America is that it is not like everyplace else - not the people, not the climate, not the rat race, and certainly not the houses. Some current local business people may want to change that.  We know who they are; where they live; and they better just not get too far out there if they know what's best. In the meantime let's celebrate our rich heritage of old homes saved from wrecking balls and developers.

408 William Street, Key West, was brought to Key West from Green Turtle Cay in 1847, and settled into its current home on one of the best streets in Old Town. It has received numerous local and state historic preservation awards. All rooms have windows and or doors to provide natural ventilation (there were no air conditioners in the mid 1800s). 

Local folk artist Ronny Bailey created his artistic homage to the "Old Bahama House" also known as the "Richard Roberts House" which I recently photographed on the back of Ronny's pick-up truck.  Ronny is a multi-generation Conch who retired from the carpentry trade several years ago.  He never lost the joy of working with wood. He started messing around with left over pieces of Dade County Pine from old houses. He cut the old boards into tiny pieces which he used to build replicas of real houses in Key West. He created windows, doors, roofs, and shutters using tiny pieces of the salvaged wood which he meticulously painted.  Note the attention to detail even showing variations of the wood actually used in the real house. See also the peeling paint and evidence of potential wood rot forming at the base of the building. This effect was achieved through paint technique.

Ronny told me this project was too important for just one folk artist to undertake. So he enlisted his grandson to paint the picture of the fish which hangs on the inside wall of the house.  Even though the green painted Bahama shutters have a few failing slats, you still cannot see inside the front windows. However, Ronny left the red door ajar where we can see the inside is equally detailed. All of the interior is also painted  including the walls, ceiling, floors, baseboard, and door trim. Look carefully at the grime on the red entry door framed by green trim and weather-beaten yellow siding.

Note the scuttle visible atop the roof above. It can be seen in both the lithograph and in the 1934 black and white photo taken by a WPA photographer who photographed many of the old houses in Key West during the Great Depression. Scuttles were retractable metal boxes on top of roofs which allowed warm air to rise to the outside. This house house has porches on the south and north sides with windows and doors which allows natural air to cool the inside. The metal roof shows signs of age and rust. Remember this is a tiny replica. Ronny taught himself how to bend old metal to the same shape as real roofs. This ain't easy folks. One time Ronny told me that some of his carpenter friends saw his work and decided to emulate (better word for copy) him. He said they gave up. They could cut and put pieces of wood together, but they could not create any piece that resembled his works. I suggest we nominate Ronny to go on America's Got Talent, but we'd all get bored to death because these pieces take months to create. 

You'll also see Ronny's watch words "joy, peace, and love" painted on the house. Ronny's watch words appear on each of his works. See if you can find them.

Ronny's homage to the Old Bahama House will be on display at the Key West Custom House.

The Key West/Bahamas Connection

January 18 - April 7, 2019

Custom House Museum | Bryan Gallery

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The "Cobbled Together" One-Time Key West Compound of Nancy Friday

I recently received an email from a friend who used to live near Nancy Friday's house in Key West. The email included a link to a Wall Street Journal piece entitled Author Nancy Friday's "Central Park West Compound Asks $22.5 Million". CLICK HERE to read the piece. The first line reads: "Over two decades, author Nancy Friday cobbled together an unusual compound of three adjacent apartments atop a New York City apartment building that overlooks Central Park".

I read the article and responded to my friend telling him that is exactly what Nancy Friday did in Key West three decades ago when she bought one, then two. and finally three houses located next to each other between Southard Street and Pinder Lane. She purchased 6 Pinder Lane pictured above from from Duane Dick and his partner Richard Thixton.** She also purchased 815 Southard and 821 Southard Street.

After Nancy Friday left Key West all three properties were purchased by a single party.   A few years later I was selected to list 6 Pinder Lane. The new property owner retained and renovated 815 Southard Street, below.

 821 Southard Street, which Nancy Friday used as her guest house, was purchased by my buyer who  renovated the interior and enhanced the garden. He found a couple of Nancy's personal items left in the attic.  Both houses sit pretty on one of the best streets in Key West, but Nancy Friday's secret garden and house is still hidden away from public view. 

Nancy Friday renovated the 6 Pinder Lane house with the architectural assistance of local architect Tom Pope. This was Nancy's Key West home. The original cottage was expanded at the rear.  A second floor was added to create the master bedroom and tree-top bath. Multiple sets of French doors were added on the main level which opened out to the magnificent deck. I showed this house many times over the years, both when Nancy still owned the property, and later. I would sit in the living room with French doors opened and let the buyers walk about taking in the simplicity and charm of this place. The French doors were always been open matter who was living there at the time. The shade of the trees and porch cooled the house and warmed the spirit.

This was no ordinary "quintessential" Key West home. Nor was the lot an ordinary lot. No, not by a long shot. Pinder Lane is one of those slow lanes in Key West of which I am so fond of. The lane is perhaps 200 feet long where it abruptly ends. It runs perpendicular to William Street midway between Southard Street to the south and Fleming Street to the north. 6 Pinder Lane is tucked in a corner behind the house at the very end of the lane. When Nancy owned the property a bricked path meandered thru some palm trees to a tall gate where what looked like an ancient cow bell once hung. You needed to pull the clanger to announce your presence at the gate. Guests needed to lift the wrought iron lever, push the gate forward, and walk into Nancy's the secret garden known as 6 Pinder Lane. It was magical!

The master bedroom was like a Hollywood movie set. Nancy created the perfect little love nest up in the sky. The wood walls and floor were painted white. Three sets of windows looked out to the towering trees and gardens below. The space was ever so comfy! You just wanted to curl up and read a book, take a nap, or have a little afternoon romance. When I wrote about this house when I listed it, I begged that "whoever buys this house please don't mess with this! The bathroom is one-of-a-kind. The white porcelain bath fixtures standout against the dark green tiles. When you stand in the shower you can see smidgens of the tin roof on a neighboring house, but mostly you see the tree tops and patches of blue sky." 

The new owners of Nancy Friday's house followed their dreams rather than mine and did a stylish update to the house and  garden. The tall gate and cowbell are gone. I have seen photos of the house which pay respect to what once was. It is still very special.

In the last three decades of the twentieth century Nancy Friday and her friends purchased simple houses in Key West to which they made modest improvements and created a community that inspired a generation of dreamers who want to move to Key West. While Nancy Friday's Key West cobbled together compound has been separated, but three new owners get to live out their dreams in one of Nancy's homes..

**  I wrote about 4 Pinder Lane a couple of times over the years. Mary Thixton told me stories about the celebrities who frequented her uncle's home including Cary Grant, Anne Jackson,Tallulah Bankhead, Burt Reynolds and local members of the Key West literary community including James Leo Herlihy (author of Midnight Cowboy) and, of course, Nancy Friday.