1434 Virginia Street, Key West - Short Sale

If you are a long time reader of my blog you may recall that I wrote 1434 Virginia Street, Key West in 2015 when it was offered for sale as bank owned property. The property was purchased but not renovated and sits in the same basic condition as previously reported except that two of the large trees on the east side of the lot are now gone. I am copying my older blog to share the photos and descriptions of the house, rooms, configuration, and condition. Just imagine fewer trees.

It looked to me that the house had been divided into five apartments over the years. The entrances are located at the front, west, and east side of  the house. Three apartments are on the main floor and two on the second floor. Each second floor apartment has an interior stairway with access to the third floor. A talented designer or architect ought to be able develop a design equal to the view. Whatever charm the original house had has been lost due to the fragmentation of the interior space. Let's look at the house the way it exists today.

Each unit has a separate kitchen and bath. The bathroom in this unit is located in what would have been the original hallway. This unit has a sleeping "loft" but the other apartments have separate bedrooms. The view looks directly across the street to Bayview Park.

The door at the far end of the second floor front apartment opens out to the second floor front porch that spans the width of the house. You can see most of Bayview Park from this vantage point. Bayview is the main city park in Key West. There are tennis courts, a baseball field, and an old fashioned pavilion at the east end. A Viet Nam War Memorial was added a couple of years ago.
 The Key West police department building and a fire station are located on the far side of the water and trees in the color photo (two above).  I searched the Sanborn Fire Maps to try to determine when this house was actually built and learned that the road and land immediately adjacent to the park was once identified as North Beach Road and that there was a small body of water in that location. That area was later filled and and developed. When I was taking photos I imagined what a sight the owner must have had back in the day before developers had their way. Then I discovered the black and white photo above which was taken in 1900. I added a notation showing what I believe to be 1434 Virginia Street as it was and still is the largest structure in this area.

I found a photo of the old "bathing pool"* or swimming hole located at what is now near the corner of Truman Avenue and Eisenhower Boulevard (previously North Beach Road). North Beach actually was a beach. Developers got the land and put up condos (don't they always!). The historic Division Street (later named Truman Avenue) was extended over the water and became North Roosevelt Boulevard. By 1999 the city added the police and fire station just east of Bayview Park. The section of North Beach Road was then called Pearl Street. The photo above shows the roofs of two large buildings at Horace O'Bryant Middle School. Those buildings are no more and have been replaced with even larger structures. The park still stands amid all the development that has taken place around it in the near 80 years since the kids jumped into the old swimming hole.  wish I could have seen this sweet town back then.

Over the years some prior owner of this property put a rear addition on to the house. Eventually the space extended out past the east side of the house and made this building exceedingly large. There is a roof top deck accessed via two small doors in the attic or loft space off the rear. A wood stairway leads down to the ground three stories below. While the view is pretty incredible, I really think a new owner might take down the entire rear addition. The house is huge without it. This would be the perfect space for a new pool, deck, and garden which could wrap around the rear and east side of the property. Sometimes less is more. This is one of those times.

The middle apartment abuts the front apartment with "loft" sleeping area. There is a warren of rooms on both floors. A renovation of these disconnected rooms could invigorate this old home and give it new purpose. The lot is very large for the Old Town area - 51' X 82' or 4149 sq ft.  Key West has several talented architects and competent builders that know how to fix old houses like this. I think the renovation of this old place could result in a really interesting home with incredible lasting views.
CLICK HERE to view more photos I took of this property. 

1434 Virginia Street is offered for sale as a short sale at $450,000. CLICK HERE view the Key West mls datasheet. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing of this property. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

 * Photo The swimming hole in Garrison Bight C 1940s. From the Louise White Collection

726 Poorhouse Lane, Key West

In his book The Streets of Key West: A History Through Street Names author J. Willis Burke informs us that "Over the other side of Solares Hill a couple of entries are self-explanatory. Galveston Lane is named for the Texas gulf coastal city that was served by the Mallory Steamship Company, and off Windsor, on Poorhouse Lane, a poorhouse was once tucked away." You may ask yourself why anybody would want to live on a street with such a desperate appellation. Let's try to figure this out.

I searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps starting in 1889 through 1912 (pictured above) to determine when the house at 726 Poorhouse Lane was built. The early maps did not give this little lane a name until this map and this particular lot did not have any building on it until after 1912.  The map shows the lane was previously named Petronia Lane and that it turned south and ended at Olivia Street. Study the street sign above because that sign is now gone. Some street thug stole it and part of the history of this charming slow lane of Key West. House by house, foot by foot, this little lane is gradually being gentrified and made into a re-imagined neighborhood in Old Town Key West.

 726 Poorhouse Lane is a 4800 square foot corner lot (48' X 100') now located across the street from Bill Butler Park to the west. I don't think I have ever seen a kid swing on the swing as this area is now mostly occupied by rich folks with second homes in Key West as opposed to real families. I'm not being negative - I'm just stating a fact.

There is a white picket fence which wraps the lot on two sides. I searched my old shoebox and found a photo of the house taken in 1965. I took a similar photo yesterday which shows a modification of the original roof line after which a rear porch was added. There is a small storage cottage at the southeast corner of the lot. But ultimately it is the location on this picturesque lane that once led to a real poorhouse that makes this small home such an interesting home worthy of serious consideration.

The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows the bungalow style house was built circa 1939. The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice living room with vaulted ceiling, and retro style kitchen.

For me it is the location and the possibilities that make 726 Poorhouse Lane such an interesting home to consider purchasing. A world famous singer used to live less 100 feet north of Bill Butler Park. There's a stage production about his music on Broadway right now. He's gone but the area itself is being rebuilt. There are two small corner convenience stores located within a couple of blocks. St. Mary's Catholic Church is up on the corner of Windsor Lane at Truman Avenue. And Duval Street is a five to seven minute walk. CLICK HERE to view more photos of 726 Poorhouse Lane and the area.

726 Poorhouse Lane is offered for sale at $920,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule showing. I am a buyers agent and  a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let's sit on the swings, take in the sights, and discuss fulfilling your dream of owning a little place on one of the slow lanes of Key West.

1424 Petronia Street, Key West - Short Sale

Sometimes you have to look a little harder and search a bit further to find one of those hidden deals that makes real estate buying so challenging in Key West. 1424 Petronia Street, Key West, is a case on point. It is a rare Short Sale and a rare Legal Two Unit property.  It sits behind a six foot fence at the corner of  Pearl and Petronia Streets in the Meadows Area of Key West. Many of the neighboring homes have been updated.

The Monroe County Property Appraiser records show the lot as measuring an irregular 74.25 feet deep by 36.6 feet wide. The house has 2459 square feet of living space. The living space was previously described this way:  Downstairs has an open feel with a large kitchen/living room.This opens out to a private covered patio and pool area. There are 2 new mini split ductless ac units installed in January 2016 downstairs. A bedroom/office area with full bath, and a 2nd large bedroom and bath are downstairs, with a 3rd bedroom/bath upstairs in the loft . The 2nd apartment space has an airy 1 bedroom, 1 bath, with a 2nd sleeping area in the loft, and a private deck, off of the living room.

When I stood in the street taking photos of the house I imagined all kinds of things I could do if I were to make this place back into a single family home.  I personally think the highest and best use would be to convert the house back into a single family home. I might eliminate part of the structure in favor of a more open living area.  The simple deed of replacing the front six foot fence with a proper white picket fence would make this house so much more inviting.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. The tenants require 24 hour notice before showings. Short Sales can be tedious but buyers who bide their time often get good bargains in the end.