If you are a hopeless romantic you'll probably fall in love with today's home when you read the address:
712 Love Lane.
But if you're a pragmatist it will probably require that you pass
through the gate at the end of the walking lane and enter into the front
yard before you fall in love. And after that all hope is lost for you
will surely be truly, madly, deeply in love with this wonderful Key West
home.
Today's
home rests at the very end of Love Lane in Old Town Key West. You'll
fall in love with this place as soon as you pass through the gate and
enter into the front yard which Leslie Linsley described in her book
Key West Houses as "an enchanting environment with a brick-and-stone patio and overhead trellis laden with cascading bougainvillea."
The listing broker describes this wonderful home this way:
"One of the island's best
kept secrets. This 4 bedroom, 3 bath all-on-one-level triple saw tooth
shotgun proved inspirational to many. Harry Roberts was the model for
Harry Morgan in Hemingway's Key West novel To Have and Have Not''. Bill
Wright, Russell Baker, and David Halberstram have all been inspired by
this gem, secluded behind the library palm garden. Judith Kazantzis
immortalized the home in her poem, Love Lane, Key West''. The main home
and separate guest cottage with bath open to the private deck and 9
foot deep heated lap pool with outdoor shower. Cypress shutters and
cypress cabinets with travertine tops in the kitchen and dining area.
Located off Fleming Street at the end of Love Lane with off-street
parking."
Let me first tell you why it is so "secret" - it's
because it is
so difficult to find. I have mentioned before somewhere in this blog
that there are three "legs" to Love Lane. If you walk of drive on
Southard Street you will find a Love Lane sign midway between William
and Elizabeth Streets on the north side of the street. If you walk down
the lane which is wide enough to accommodate a car you will see that the
lane abruptly ends where a house sits. And if you are walking or
driving on Fleming Street between Elizabeth and William Streets you will
find an unmarked walking lane that begins at the edge of the Monroe
County Public Library (which has been referred to as the Pink Library).
This, too, is Love Lane. And if you went back to Southard Street and
looked to the south side of the street you would find a tiny little
strip of ground not much wider than the sidewalk on which it occupies, a
lane also called Love. 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."
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 the whole. What was once a small cottage is now a
1309 sq ft home with three bedrooms in the main house plus the guest
cottage or pool house. I started to write which of the rooms is my most
favorite and then realized I couldn't decide which one that might be. So
instead I'll throw up some photos I took and you can decide which you
like most.
When
you enter the home you see the dining room on the right. It's a
magnificent space with soaring ceiling, a library wall crammed with
books and windows that look out to the library garden and front porch,
and the quiet little reading nook.
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 doors open out to the pool. |
See
what I mean? You can't pick a favorite spot because each room or space is so precious in
its own right. I love the spartan room 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 and the gauzy
front bedroom made me want to peer through the shutters out to the pool.
And then there is that insane kitchen with the soaring ceiling and
handmade cedar cabinets. Nothing store bought 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. It 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
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? It is
just too awesome.
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.
CLICK HERE to 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 one!
Every
now and then I get a phone call or an email from a potential buyer who
has had a persistent dream of buying a place in Key West that he or she
or they could operate as an investment. The goal is give that potential
buyer the reason to move here and have a place to go to that could turn a
profit. With the rate of return banks are offering in today's diluted
economy, making a profit on just about any non-risk investment ought to
provide a greater rate of return. Preferred Properties is the listing
brokerage for a Bank Owned Trailer Park located on Summerland Key, just 29 miles east of Key West. The listing Realtor describes the property as:
Summerland
Palms is a trailer condominium where all of the lot spaces (except one)
are owned by a single owner, the Seller. The Seller leases the 21 spaces
to the individual trailer owners who pay monthly rent. There is a
common laundry facility that also generates income. The combined
projected gross income is $170,000. According to the listing agent, this
investment would generate about a 6% return on investment.
Coin operated laundry for extra cash income
