Not Haunted in Key West

Twenty-five years ago today I did the scariest thing in my life - I bought a shut down guest house in Key West. The 13 room guest house had been foreclosed upon by the Small Business Administration which let the place sit boarded up for two years. The auctioneer removed some of the plywood coverings so that potential buyers could take a look at the inside before making a bid. All bids were final and the property was not subject to any further inspection.

The main house and carriage house were once the home of Dr. and Mrs. Warren. Genevieve Warren is second from the left pictured above. She was one of the founders of the garden club. Rightly so as the guest house property had one of the grandest gardens in Key West back in the day and still did even though the Small Business Administration let it go to seed during its lack of maintenance. The trees were overgrown and vines and weeds crept all over the place. The government agency did not pay the nominal annual license fees to keep the business licensed which resulted in the city voiding the 13 guest house licenses. The lights did not work, the water was not turned on, and I had no idea what other conditions might be discovered were I to be the successful bidder. The bidding went slowly in $5,000 increments. A guy who worked with the auctioneer approached me and asked if I really wanted to buy the place. I said I did. He asked me my what my highest dollar offer would be. I said $500,000. (This was in 1993 when prices were much lower than today. You cannot buy a crumby condo for $500,000 in Key West today.) He said I should bid it all and confidentially told me I would blow everyone else out of the water. They would fear me and said I would get the property. I waited for the bidding to continue for a minute or so and then I bid $500,000. The room went silent. The auctioneer beckoned higher bids. Then he gave fair warning, banged the gavel, and announced I was the high bidder and said the government representative would have to confirm the bid. That happened after they confirmed my deposit check.

My partner and I plus our dog moved into the property the week before Christmas 1993. Within two months we had the trees trimmed, the buildings tented for termites, and the rooms cleaned and ready for business. I hired an attorney to help get back the thirteen licenses that had been lost. In the meantime I obtained five transient licenses which were available based on the size of the building rather than the number of rooms. We opened for business the first week of February 1994 and were busy every day thereafter.

Before we opened the doors to the public we got to spend a night or two in each of the bedrooms. Later we lived in the manager's unit tucked away off to the side of the original dining room which we used as our office. The main house was among the grandest of the grand back in the day. And it was still in really good condition when we bought it.

I sold the place a couple of years later. I regret that now but that is what I did. Years later the woman I sold it to wanted to move away from Key West. I showed the property to a potential buyer. I recall her standing in the main entry way telling my buyer about ghosts in the house. I looked at her and thought she sounded ridiculous. That was a lot of hooey.

Three years ago I received an email from a woman writer who was working on a tour book on Key West wherein she was going to discuss the "paranormal".  I told the writer I could not offer any stories about the paranormal as I had not experienced any such thing. I don't know where or why people come up with things like this. Things that go bump in the night are often the result of gravity and not a ghost dropping an object or stepping on a cat's tail. Or too much alcohol.

 

I have been selling unhaunted houses in Key West since 1996.  I guess Realtors up north in American have to add riders to let potential buyers know their listings are not haunted. If you are looking to buy a place in Key West give me a call.

816 South Street #4, Key West - Big Price Reduction!

The asking price 816 South Street #4  in Key West was just reduced from $479,000 to $450,000. This is a real buying opportunity for a buyer who wants a move-in-ready place three blocks to Duval and a short walk to Higgs Beach. South Park condos have one of the best pools in all of Key West and each unit has a private parking space.

I have sold four units in this four building complex with a total of 16 units over the past few years.  I think Southpark Condominiums are the best buy in Key West based on size, quality of construction, location, and amenities.

 Southpark Condominiums are made up of four four unit buildings located between William Street and Reynolds Street (the pathway to Higgs Beach and the Atlantic Ocean).  This second floor unit is located in the easternmost building. The unit has been tastefully updated including the new kitchen which was added just two years ago. This unit has central air conditioning and an in-unit washer and dryer.  Not all units have private laundries in the unit. The unit enjoys light throughout the day either from morning sunlight from the south which filters in through the kitchen window and the French doors in the bedroom. As the sun moves from east to west during the day, light bathes the living room in muted tones early afternoon until sunset. A door in the living room opens out to the front porch.

The dining are contains a built in display wall for showing off artwork, books, and nick-knacks. Another mirrored wall visually tricks the eye and enlarges the entire living space. Note also the natural finished oak flooring found in living room, dining area, and bedroom. Crown molding and bright white trim and baseboards plus pops of color on the walls add a bit of drama throughout this abode.

All of the units have private rear porches.  This one is sunny throughout most of the day. There is a rear interior stairway from a door in the kitchen which leads down to the pool at the rear of the property. The pool is located about fifty feet or more to the west. The Southpark grounds are quite spacious and professionally maintained. Each building has access to the gardens and pool area plus gated access from the front and side yards. The pool is one of the largest and most beautiful of any condominiums in Key West. There is a small building located at the east end of the pool which houses a coin operated laundry plus storage units for each of the condominiums.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 816 South Street #4 which is now offered at $450,000. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, at  305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. I can't make enough positive comments about these units especially when compared to higher priced units in the Key West area.

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.