1701 Atlantic Boulevard - Key West

The quite large home at 1701 Atlantic Boulevard in Key West is located near the beaches on southeast part of the Island of Key West.  The original house was built in 1968 and was later expanded to its present size of 2969 sq ft of living space under air. The house sits at the corner of Ashby Street and Atlantic Avenue. The 5760 sq ft lot (64' x 90')  contains the sprawling two level home, a large pool, covered off street parking, and several garden areas. The asking price is $998,000 or only $336 per sq ft.  The listing Realtor describes the property as:

"Spacious home on a sizable 5,760 sq.ft. corner lot, custom designed for family fun and entertaining. The first floor consists of an open floor plan connecting a great room, designer kitchen, dining room and wet bar overlooking the pool and deck area. A second master bedroom suite and two guest rooms with a shared bath round up the first floor. The second floor comprises the master bedroom suite with a grand master bath, walking closet, siting area, and french doors leading out to a wide covered deck overlooking the oceanfront Key West Nature Preserve. The private fenced yard features a large heated swimming pool and sunning deck for year-round enjoyment. Walking distance from the beach. Covered carport. Come see this great Island Home."

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There are three bedrooms on the east side of the main level.  Two of those bedrooms share a bath while the third bedroom has a quite large ensuite bath plus access to the rear. 

The second floor is for the exclusive use of the owner. This area includes the bedroom, a siting area, and the extra large ensuite bath. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this home. If you would like to see 1701 Atlantic Blvd or any other home in Key West, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

Key West Home Buy Christmas - 912 Truman Avenue - Old Town

I have written about the lovely old home at 912 Truman Avenue a couple of times, and I have had the privilege of showing the house several times over the past few months.  As we approach Christmas Day which is now only a week away, I want bargain buyers to give this really big, really nice old Key West home serious consideration.  I don't often talk about price per sq ft (partially because some houses are pretty pricey on a per sq ft basis and also because our housing supply is so diverse price comparisons are difficult).  But I am going to make an exception here and appeal to the inner Scrooge in some readers. 912 Truman Avenue is offered at just $795,000 or $227 per sq ft.

912 Truman Avenue is a large house, 3494 sq ft divided between the main floor which has a formal entry, living room and adjoining parlor (with door to the pool), formal (regal) dining room, and old fashioned kitchen with modern and updated charm. The second floor features master bedroom with a very large en-suite bath, two large bedrooms and a full bath. The third floor is a quite large space with large gables on four sides which allow good daytime light and a large bathroom. Outside this home has a white picket fence, front yard with dramatic palms that shield the home from the street, large side yard on the east where the adjoining parking space is located, and the pool in the rear which has a water wall and fountain.


If you are thinking of buying a Key West home which you could rent as a vacation rental, you really ought to consider this property and compare it to other properties that are currently available at much higher prices.  Look first at the photos below and then really think about how attractive this property would be to a prospective renter.

Artist's depiction of 912 Truman Avenue

 
When you step inside 912 Truman Avenue its like stepping back into another era. This home retains the functionality and character of the original home but it has been updated with central air, updated bathrooms, and modern kitchen.  The old style rooms remain in tact with all of their flaws, charm and character.

When you enter the front entry you see the ancient staircase and central hallway that divides the house in two. On the right side you will find the living room and parlor on the right side.  The dining room and kitchen are on the left side. A small bath and servants' stairway are located at the rear.

As you view the photos below imagine how different the spaces might look if you furnished the rooms with your vision of how this old house should look.   And also consider how you might paint or otherwise improve on the existing room paint schemes. New owners often do some inexpensive improvements the dramatically enhance the charm of even the best of homes.

 Front door with living room located on the right

The dining room is located to the left. Note the crown molding and high baseboards.

The beautiful staircase leads to the bedrooms on the second and third floors.

The living room (above) is divided into two sections.  Note the rich Dade County Pine walls, the equally rich and very real wood floors, and the old school wood ceilings. Note as well the ancient windows with glass that ripples.

The dining room obviously hearkens back to another era. Imagine vacation renters gathering here to enjoy morning breakfasts as they make plans on how they will spend their days in Paradise.

My dear old grandmother had the same octagonal tile in her bathroom. I love the look and feel of this place. It evokes a feeling continuity over generations of people that lived here. The house has the necessities, but it is not consumed by modernity. It retained its soul. 

The master bedroom and bath occupy the west side of the second floor. Two more bedrooms plus a shared bath are on the east side. The master bath is huge.

The two second floor bedrooms are shown above. One is now used as a sitting room. Note the old newspapers glued to the ceiling. The papers were originally used as insulation and where retained when the home was renovated.

A door in the hallway opens to the second floor front balcony that spans the breadth of the home.

The master bedroom is located to the right and it's bath is located to the right rear. The second bath is located at the far rear and it is used by the occupants in either of the bedrooms on the left. Note the servants' staircase at the rear. It goes goes down to the area just off the kitchen. The main staircase provides access from the main floor (at front). And the staircase rising on the left leads to the third floor bed and bath.

The third floor space is actually quite large. Unfortunately I took lousy pics. I think this space would work great as a kids' retreat away from grown-ups on the second floor. There is plenty of room for a couple of sets of bunk beds or trundle beds plus room for games or distractions.

912 Truman Avenue is part of a land based condo. The house was extensively renovated in 2002 at which time the adjacent garage was also renovated and expanded. The grounds to the rear had new houses built upon them. To comply with City of Key West building code, the properties were classified as condominiums. There are limited common areas for ingress and egress to the new houses. Otherwise, the quarterly condominium fee is just $150.  CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet on this property.



If I have intrigued enough with my write-up consider this: 806 Truman Avenue sold in February 2012 for $1,600,000. Now it had three transient rental licenses which allowed weekly rentals as opposed to vacation (monthly) rentals. It was smaller in size but equally rich in amenities. It shared the same basic street location.



Now, please CLICK HERE to checkout the Key West mls and see what houses you can find on Old Town priced anywhere near this and then decide for yourself how much money you could make renting this house on a monthly basis as a vacation rental as compared to equally priced houses. 


Consider this as well: vacation renters are here for a few weeks. They want a nice, clean place to stay with great amenities and a location that allows them to do things tourists do.  They aren't buying the place to live in forever. They are renting it because it offers them space, charm, a pool, and easy access to all that is fun. 


If you would like to see 912 Truman Avenue or any other property in Key West, 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. If you buy this great old house you could have a wondeful place to spend your Christmas next year.

Key West Home Buy Christmas - 923 Angela Street - Old Town

Just listed, but not by me, 923 Angela Street in the Old Town area of Key West.  The listing agent describes this lovely property this way:

"Classic Keys Cottage on a quiet Old Town Lane. Perfect porch for sunset views and peaks of local color. Traditional Conch style casual with Dade County Pine, wood flooring, lots of natural sunlight and just the right amount of outdoor space to enjoy gardening or doing absolutely nothing. One bedroom, one bath on main floor. Den/Office/Guest Room on the second level with small balcony and amazing views."

I dug into the old shoe box and found the above black and white photo of 923 Angela Street that was taken in 1965. The note on the photos says this house was built in the 1920s. Compare the old facade with the picture I took last weekend, below.

I got to show this house last week. It shows great. The front entry is a small vestibule which opens into the living room on the right or the stairway to the second floor.

 

This home has 1254 sq ft of living space divided between the main floor and second floor (which is a bit smaller in size).  The kitchen is located just off the living room.

 The main bedroom and only bath are located at the back of the first floor. A covered veranda and deck are located at the rear of the property. 

Upstairs you will find a nice sunny room with windows that look south toward the Key West cemetery and dormers at the rear which add to the interior space.  There is also access to a small rooftop rear area.

 923 Angela Street is located across from the Key West cemetery on Angela Street which is a one-way lane (only about 10 feet wide) which runs from Frances Street at the east to Margaret Street at the west. Traffic is very limited and you won't have a Conch train or trolley bus going past your house with loudspeaker telling tales throughout the day. The neighborhood is mostly "locals" and no commercial or apartments, there should not be much competition for on street parking. Duval Street is about a five to seven minute walk as is the Historic Key West Seaport.

923 Angela Street is offered at $649,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet.  And CLICK HERE to view a slideshow of additional photos I took of this home.

If you would like to see 923 Angela Street, or any other cute little Key West house, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.  If you buy this house, you most certainly will have a home in Key West next Christmas where you can enjoy the sights, sounds, and joys of Christmastime in our little version of Paradise.

A Christmas Memory and more

I wrote about my first appearance on the big stage four years ago. I want to reprise that blog and add a some additional thoughts for your consideration.

The school cafeteria (lower left) doubled as our auditorium where I debuted in black face at age eight

My introduction to the theater perhaps should go unmentioned. But I'll throw political correctness aside to share a very innocent little boy's first appearance on the stage. I think I was in the second grade at Mountain View Elementary in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. (That's the lily white suburb I previously wrote about.) The year would have been around 1955.  I played an orphan at Christmas. I remember the play took place at Christmas time because Santa was the main character, and he was played by an adult. Classmates from various grades were the other orphans.

The play took place right after school. The audience was filled with kids from each grade along with their parents. The play was short. My part was even shorter.

My part required intensive practice on my dialect. I'm not sure who taught me the phraseology, and I cannot remember my line.  But as I recall my one line brought down the house.

I also remember one of the teachers taking the time to apply my makeup. Yep, an eight year old boy wearing makeup. The teacher rubbed burnt cork all over my hands, neck, and face. I was supposed to be a little black boy.  I got my line out, and the audience roared.

Two years earlier I was in kindergarten. I attended the morning class while other kids attended class in the afternoon.  We were the beginning of the boomer generation. The next year an addition was added to the right side of the  building which then housed kindergarten, first, and second grade classes.

My kindergarten class was located in the lower level on the back side of the original school. My teacher was Miss Godley. She was about 900 years old (or so it seemed to me) and wore her gray hair in a bun. She wasn't fat by today's standards, but back then she was a little plump. She wore wire frame glasses. As I remember her, she was about one of the kindest people I ever met in my life.

I lived one block away from school. Both my mother and dad worked. When I got out of school, I was supposed to walk to the corner of 43rd and Eaton and walk one block east to Mrs. Sorrentino's house were I would spend the afternoon waiting for my mom to get home from work.

On one day a classmate who lived the a couple of blocks south in the opposite direction asked me to go to his house for lunch and play. I agreed and we set out to his house. Miss Godley happened to be driving her car home to have her lunch and saw me and my friend walking. She knew I was going the wrong direction. She stopped the car and asked me where I was going. I said to my friend's house. She told me I had to turn around and go to my house because my parents would be worried. So I said goodbye to my friend, turned around and started to walk back toward my house. Miss Godley drove her car away.  I looked back and as soon as I saw that she was gone, I pivoted and ran to my friend where we proceeded go to his house.

I don't remember exactly how or when I was found. I do know Mrs. Sorrentino called my dad who came home and looked all over for me. I know the school got involved in the search because of what
happened the next day.  Miss Godely made us all sit down in a circle. She then said one of us had been very bad the day before and she told the story of the bad child who disobeyed and deceived her.  We all looked around at the circle wondering which one of us was the bad seed. She never said it was me, for which I was grateful.  But as you can tell from reading this, I was still deceitful by not admitting my guilt or my shame. I confess now.

I tell these little tales of my childhood today because I look back on my life with great nostalgia and because of the immense pain and frustration I feel about the loss of life of those sweet little children in Connecticut who will never have silly little tales of school plays or learning the lessons in life we all go through.  My heart was broken yesterday. What a sad day it was for our country. And what a horrible day it was for the families of all those who were killed or injured.