621 Olivia Street,Key West - Elegant Eyebrow Home

Just Listed, but not by me, 621 Olivia Street, Key West. I got to preview this elegant eyebrow house during a broker open house a couple of weeks ago. If you watch Million Dollar Listing New York you are accustomed to seeing sharp dressing brokers who look more like models. While we have a few pretty sharp looking agents, most of our agents have gray hair and dress Key West casual. That was the case on the date we saw this house. We were all awed by the place.

I dug around in my old shoebox and found the above picture of 621 Olivia Street taken back in 1965. A note on the back says it was built circa 1889. The photo contrasts with the current photo above in many ways but it also shows us the basic structure remains intact. The front part is the actual eyebrow house. Note the roof line extends out over the front and rests on four columns. Three sets of windows are located on a higher plane over the first floor door and louver shutters. The second floor windows were designed to allow fresh air to flow into the house even during a rainstorm. A second part of the house can be seen at the rear. The connecting point the two sections is referred to as a sawtooth addition.

Even though there are more than fifty eyebrow homes in Key West, each one is different. Most of the eyebrows, like this one, have been renovated. This home has been thoroughly renovated, expanded, and now includes a separate guest cottage. Today the main house and guest cottage have 1794 square feet of living space under air conditioning plus additional covered porch and lounge areas. The home has four bedrooms and three baths. The front door opens into a central hallway which leads to the new great room at the rear. The first impression is this a very old and lovely home. The Dade County Pine walls suggest this is a very old house, but when we pass to the rear we see large contemporary great room with vaulted ceiling and lots of windows and doors with views of the incredible pool and rear grounds. 

The first floor wood floors are pickled which works well with the contemporary feel of this updated home. The main floor bedrooms have the historic character so many buyers desire. The second floor master suite is contemporary and includes a large en-suite bath. I saw this home around 5:00 PM just as our late summer sun started that long dance into twilight. Windows at the gable ends of the great room offer so many light possibilities throughout the day.  A skylight in the master bedroom brings additional light into that space apart from the eyebrow windows at floor level and the side windows in the bedroom and bath. The natural light in this home is especially keen.

When the first floor French doors are opened the lanai becomes a part of the indoor-outdoor living area. Imagine entertaining in this incredible environment.  The pool area includes a waterfall feature at the rear and a spa at the front.  I took a video of the pool which you may enjoy.

The stand alone guest cottage has a small kitchen and private bath. It has a vaulted ceiling and  multiple sets of French doors that make this space seem much larger than it is. This space would make a great writer's cottage. Are you a great writer?

The attention to detail evidenced in the main house continues into the guest cottage. Everything is perfect. The backyard and pool area are among the best I've seen in Key West. The other agents' eyes were agog when they looked at the pool. This is impressive!

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and more photos of 621 Olivia Street, Key West, offered at $2,475,000. Then 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.

1015 Elgin Lane, Key West

At first glance you might think the photos above show two separate homes which have been renovated in first class style. Well, the style statement is correct, and yes, they were renovated, but today the two houses that once backed against up to each other are now one single family residence. 1015 Elgin Lane, Key West, Florida is listed by Preferred Properties Key West, that's where I work but this is not my listing. I got to see the house for the first time yesterday during a brokers open house. I have written previous blogs homes on Elgin Lane which is only two blocks long and runs parallel to Eaton Street. It starts at White Street and ends at Grinnell Street. The Old Town Bakery is located at corner of Grinnell Street and is a landmark all returning visitors to Key West should recognize. The lane itself is fairly narrow and not well traveled by anyone except the folks who live on the lane. 

I searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps and learned that 1014 Eaton Street (now a major component of the Elgin house) was on the 1889 Map and that the rear of the lot (the Elgin site) had no building on it nor was there a building there on the final Map dated 1912.  The black and white photo from 1965 shows 1015 Elgin as it existed at that time, but perplexed me at first sight because the gable roof of 2018 is facing the opposite 90 degrees opposite.  As the defective detective MONK would say - this is what happened:

The two houses at 1014 Eaton and 1015 Elgin Lane were joined together by the owner to create one larger home. The houses were taken apart and totally rebuilt from foundation up. I suspect the original Elgin house was rotated on its side and the kitchen addition added. New piers, joists, and all building elements were replaced or updated as necessary. New windows, plumbing and electricity, HVAC, insulation, and drywall were added. The original floors were kept, however, and they are in remarkably good shape.

Even though the Eaton Street facade still has a street numeral and separate bricked off street parking space, there is just one legal address at 1015 Elgin Lane. When I first arrived at the house I did a quick walk through the first floor and opened the front door. It was a few minutes after noon and we are in spring break. Eaton Street was busy with traffic. I shut the door and heard nothing. I opened it again and heard the traffic. I paused in the hallway behind the front door. I heard nothing. I went into the adjacent master bedroom and listened at the window. I heard nothing. I mention this for good reason - even I assumed I would hear traffic. I was wrong. By the way the louvered shutters on the historic photo may have been operational to allow air into the old house. While the shutters still exist in 2018, the wall behind the shutters is solid.

The master bedroom is fairly large and has a large en-suite bath. There is a guest bath located adjacent. The living room and dining room, entry foyer, and kitchen are located in the Elgin Lane portion of the home.

During the renovation the common living spaces were opened into an amazing open living environment. Dining room has a high pitched cathedral ceiling with French doors which open out to the pool and garden The interior living space is great but it expands immensely when the doors are opened to the great outdoors.

The pool and garden are very well thought out and purposed. French doors open out to the deck which is on the same plain as the interior floors. The transition from inside to outdoors goes unnoticed except that once outside you know you're in a magical  tropical setting. The length of the pool surprised me but should not have because the lot size is very large: an irregular rectangle that measures approximately 51.58' X 80'. The new Trex decks line the pool on either side and lead to a step-down area where the grill is located amid adjacent tropical foliage. There is a semi-formal dining area on the Elgin Lane side of the pool. The entire east side of the home is bricked and has off street parking on both Elgin Lane and Eaton Street.

There are two good sized bedrooms on the second floor which share a bath. The owners used the knee wall space to create additional storage.  In searching my shoebox for photos I found a picture of a former owner of the house, V. Oscar Arenberg (1863-1954) who was a ship carpenter employed by William Curry and Sons shipbuilders. The listing broker told me the owners have lots of photos which show the entire renovation of this home. You can see from the above photos the pride of ownership and the attention to detail that went into this very special home.

"Because Elgin produced so many watches and produced so many spare parts, they can still be easily bought and fixed, so even a 100 year old Elgin can be used, with care, on a daily basis. While mechanical watches can't compete with quartz watches for accuracy, there is something about having a watch that ticks that a quartz watch just can't replace."

The Elgin Watch Collectors Site

I think the same can be said about old houses like this one. 


CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and more photos of 1015 Elgin Lane. Then 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. I think any buyer will be awed by this beautiful home.

629 Elizabeth Street, Key West - Buying Opportunity

I have written about or mentioned the house at 629 Elizabeth Street numerous times over the past eleven years including when it was first listed for sale as a "fixer-upper". I know a lot of buyers tried to buy the place back then, including a buyer I represented. He made what he called a fair cash offer which was rejected. The seller selected a different offer and that buyer undertook the project of essentially building a brand new house which incorporated just a few boards from the original cottage that sat on this, the highest point on the island of Key West. While the original frame was maintained in appearance, the house itself is all new. CLICK HERE to view the photos I took during the construction process to memorialize what once was to what became.  I have added a couple of the original photos below so you can see how the house appeared prior to the "renovation".

The 629 Elizabeth Street was listed for sale in December 2016 at $1,699,000 and has had periodic price reductions since then.  The asking price was just reduced to $1,399,000 which is 23.7 % lower than original asking. The reduced asking price makes this an official buying opportunity in my opinion. Last week I cited 712 Ashe Street as one of the best buys in Key West in 2017. It was a similar "renovation" situated on a smaller lot but it included a pool. It sold for $1,410,000.  The new price on 629 Elizabeth Street will attract a buyer now.

During the "renovation" the original cottage was expanded with additional living spaces. Today the house has 1647 square feet of living space which now includes an open space concept living area, three bedrooms, and three baths. The original front porch is now a sitting porch off the master bedroom. The front entry was relocated to the side of the house where guests now enter into the vaulted living area.

One of the major attractions of owning a second home in Key West is our wonderful wintertime weather. This home has collapsible doors which allows seamless movement between the indoor and outdoor spaces. The one thing the owner did not do that could be done is to add a swimming pool. There is room for a pool at the rear corner of the back yard.  Not all owners want a pool and the monthly cost associated with one. So whoever buys this home can decide if a pool is in his or her future.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 629 Elizabeth Street in Old Town Key West now offered at $1,399,000. 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. This home is designed for easy living as all rooms are located on one level.  You can walk to Duval Street or the historic seaport in about five minutes. And when you come home at night you will enter a place that is perfect in so many ways.