1409 12th Street, Key West - Just Listed

Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West, 1409 12th Street, Key West, Florida. Longtime readers of my blog know I am a nut for old photos of our little town. I remembered an aerial photo taken in 1999 by Ty Symroski and Wendy Tucker to which I added a couple of notes showing today's property and its location. Today the big green fields are a bit more developed. The big open green space in the middle is now the site of the recently relocated Poinciana Elementary School. The old school buildings behind the open space were razed after the new school was built and are now a part of the huge baseball field complex. I mention this for good reason: if you have a kid, school is one block away. If you shop, our three shopping centers are within a two minute car drive excluding times when Roosevelt Boulevard is clogged with tourists coming to town to spend gobs of money. If you're into working out, the new Anytime Fitness is just three blocks away.

The listing Realtors describe 1409 12th Street, Key West this way:

"Meticulous craftsmanship runs throughout this 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home. The kitchen has gorgeous cherry wood cabinets, stainless appliances, granite counter tops and a pantry. Triple glass sliding doors off the living room and master with high ceilings and sky lights throughout bring the outdoors in! A rich wood decked porch overlooks the large in ground pool which has heat and a waterfall. Lots of privacy and lots of storage! Off street covered parking for two cars."

As soon as I entered this home I was taken by how clean and fresh it felt. I don't say that often. I have been in too many houses with the odors of dogs, cats, and exotic cuisines.  Bring to this house whatever it is you love. But you won't have to clean and paint this place before you move.

The living areas are on the right side of the house. The two guest bedrooms are on the left followed by a wet bar with skylight above. The middle bedroom has a Murphy Bed and desk niche.  The master bedroom and bath are at the rear where sliding glass doors open out to the rear deck and pool below.

The house has 1511 square feet of living space on one floor. The interiors and exterior are clean as can be. There is no work to be done. This is the kind of place a buyer seeking a second home for the winter ought to consider. You could lock and leave it.  We have plenty of pool people to take care of pools. The front and rear "landscaping" will require minimal attention.

Compare the size and quality of this home to condos or townhomes in the Truman Annex where the current least expensive property is a 513 square foot one bedroom one bath condo priced at $590,000 or $1,150 per square foot. 1409 12th Street is offered at $430 per square foot. You could take a lot of Ubers to Old Town with all the money you would be saving and you wouldn't have to share the pool with people staying in the 170 other condos.

CLICK HERE to view 1409 12 Street, Key West. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. A showing takes twenty or so minutes from start to finish. You might just find the home of your dreams.

1005 Eaton Street, Key West - Just Listed

Just Listed, but not be me, 1005 Eaton Street, Key West. This house, offered at just $745,000, is worthy of serious consideration to any budget conscious buyer who seeking a nice house, in a good location, with room for a pool, and that has off street parking.

I poked around in my old shoebox and found the black and white photo of 1005 Eaton Street taken in 1965. This is a wood framed one and one-half story house with a saw-tooth addition at the rear. It is nearly identical to 1007 Eaton Street which I sold two years ago. 1005 Eaton St was built in 1892. Locals and frequent visitors to Key West will recognize the house next door to the west at 1001 Eaton Street at the corner of Eaton and Grinnell Streets as the landmark Alfonso-Carrasco House. It was built in 1890 and later sold to the Cuban Consul to the United States. If you large pants issues, the mere existence of Old Town Bakery across the street should be taken into consideration. It is hard to avoid going inside and leaving empty handed.

The first floor living is typical of many Key West renovations. The bedrooms are located at the front and the living area is at the rear. This home has a large outdoor area which is currently decked except for off street parking which is accessed off Thompson Lane.

The listing Realtor describes the house this way:

"Historic Key West Conch Cottage! Centrally located on Eaton St., you are within walking distance to Duval, Caroline, and the Historic Water Front. Full of original Dade County Pine, this charming house can be your personal retreat or a great rental with the Key West character everyone desires. The lower unit has 2 Bedrooms and 2½ Baths with built-ins throughout. The upper unit is a 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath with plenty of storage and a separate entrance. Property spans from Eaton to Thompson Lane with over sized off street parking. The private outdoor spaces on Thompson Lane are a huge bonus with this property."

The 2495 square foot lot is an imperfect rectangle that measures 23 feet by 100 feet (I said imperfect that there are a few jut-outs. Much of the rear is presently decked. I think there is ample room for a pool and space for decking. There is off street parking at the rear inside the lot.

The house has a second floor one bedroom apartment that runs the length of the original house. The bedroom windows look down onto Eaton Street. The living area is accessed via an exterior staircase.  The house I sold next door at 1007 Eaton had an interior staircase. At one time that house also had a second floor apartment. That space was recaptured and made into two bedrooms. The same could be done in this house.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos on 1005 Eaton Street, Key West. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your home in Paradise.

Mother's Day Open House - Key West

Looking for a new place to live in Key West?

Checkout the Mother's Day Open House

1413 Von Phister Street

12:00 to 2:00 PM

• Brand New Home - Completed in 2019  1924 Square Feet
• Open Concept Home - Ten Foot Ceilings on Both Floors - Crown Molding - High Baseboards
• Three Bedrooms and Three Baths - Walk-in Closets
• Heated 10 X 20 Pool - Fully Landscaped Yard - Bricked Parking and Walkways

$1,499,000
 CLICK HERE for the details.
 

Follow me on TWITTER. Every once in a while I post brand new listings that are sure to be attention grabbers. Sometimes just random stuff. Sometimes people getting abused by the police.

1413 Von Phister St Key West - Open House - Cinco de Mayo

OPEN HOUSE

TODAY

12:00 ~ 2:OO

1413 Von Phister Street

Stop by after church and before hitting the beach or Duval Street.  You may not want to leave. This brand new 1924 square foot three bedroom three bath home has lots of quality living offer. CLICK HERE to see the Key West MLS info sheet. Better yet come on over.

Open Houses of Key West

 Two Open Houses Today

1413 Von Phister St, Key West  Open 12:00 - 2:00

There is 1924 square feet of living between the front and rear porches of this Brand New Home which has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large open concept living area, and that beautiful heated pool. Offered at $1,499,000.

619 Virginia Street, Key West  Open 12:00 to 2:00

Newer 1394 sq ft pool-side town home located at the Southernmost Cabana Resort which has only 21 homes. This home has a successful history as a monthly vacation rental. It should - it is located one block from upper Duval Street. South Beach is located four blocks to the south. It has adjacent off street parking and the largest deck in the complex plus a large private side yard. Offered at $899,000.

Follow me on TWITTER for up to the hour MLS info and other stuff including photos of people who end up in the slammer who look like they got slammed by a cop.

1120 Curry Lane, Key West

 

I will bet you that a lot of potential house buyers who have been scouring the Key West Association of Realtors mls website have seen the listing at 1120 Curry Lane and have no idea where it is.  If you do a Google Search and see an aerial view you will quickly learn that it is located on a one-way lane that runs parallel between Fleming Street to the north and Southard Street to the south.  You enter from White Street - about 100 feet to east and exit at Frances Street at the west. Curry Lane truly is one of the slow lanes of Key West because so few people know where it is or have any reason to go there other than to go home.  That means is it quite. Some may think it is too far from Duval Street. Nay, I say. I think a normal person could walk to Duval in 8 to 10 minutes or be at the historic seaport in 7 minutes or so. There are normal people in Key West - sometimes it may not look like it, but there really are some.

I searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps to determine the approximate age of 1120 Curry Lane. It first appeared on the 1899 map. The Frank Harris Livery stable and sheds were located across the lane. The earlier Sanborn maps and the 1899 map showed several large open spaces between Curry Lane and Barracks Lane which was later renamed Stump Lane. This entire area was located just west of the ARMY Barracks and Parade Grounds which dates back to before the Civil War. In more recent times that area was federal government housing.  The black and white photo above shows the house as it appeared in 1965. The aerial photo below was taken in the 1920s. I added a notation to show the location of 1120 Curry Lane. By the time this photo was taken, the horses had been replaced by cars. The livery was razed and four cigar maker cottages were built at the location at Fleming and White Street. Those cigar cottages were replaced by the mid-century Sunbeam Grocery store.

The home and guest cottage offer 1922 sq ft of living space under air which includes two bedrooms on the second floor and a separate guest cottage at the rear which includes a small kitchen, bath, living and sleeping loft.

The main house and guest cottage are oriented toward providing direct access to the outdoor spaces as well as being recipients of the abundant daytime light which comes thru the glass paneled French doors. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and more photos of 1120 Curry 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 Key West.   I took the little logo photo below of a nearby Curry Lane cottage a couple of years ago. This lane has several absolutely adorable little homes on it.

Party Line Telephone - My Life as a Brat

I remember that time before my sister passed away nearly twenty years ago when she told me I was brat as a child. I was ticked off and disagreed. That's a terrible thing to say to someone.  But it was partly true. You can judge me by what I did when I was about five or six years old.

Both of my parents worked. Before I went to elementary school I spent the days with Mr. and Mrs. Sorrentino who lived across the street. On warm days he would sit in his wood chair on the front porch watching not much of anything happen on our little street. He would place his hand on the arm rest and dare me to smash it with my powerful little fist. He would usually retract his arm faster than I could hit the top of his hand. He would let me hit his hand enough times not to discourage me however. I knew he let me win. 

One day a man drove his yellow couple car and parked it on the side of our house. We lived on a corner. The man was wearing a suit and fedora hat. This was the very early 1950s when just about every man wore a hat of some type. Mrs. Sorrentino came out to the porch. They either suggested that I go to my house to find out what the man wanted or I volunteered.

I went over to my house. The man asked me if I lived there. Yes, I said. He then said something to the effect that he was an investigator for the telephone company and that I had been on the telephone using very bad language. 

The phone was made of bake lite, a material that preceded plastic. The phone was heavy. It did not have a dial - that came a few years later. I do remember you had to give the telephone operator the phone number you wanted to call. Our telephone was on a "party line". This was a phone line shared by multiple users.  Anyone could pick up the phone and listen to whoever else was speaking. Users were encouraged to keep their phone messages short.

I guess it wasn't hard to figure out who the bad kid with the filthy mouth was. I can remember to this day that man scarred the hell out of little me. He did not threaten me. His being there at that moment accusing me of saying really bad words to women on the phone threatened my existence. My Sunday school boyishness was exposed to the nerve.

He then said that he wouldn't return to my house to tell my parents what I did if I promised not to go on the phone again and say bad words to the other telephone users. I promised!

He went back to his yellow car and left. I returned across the street to the Sorrentinos, both of whom were waiting to ask me who the man was and what he wanted. He was lost, I said - or some thing to that affect. My sister was probably correct. Not only was I a brat but also a liar.

Don't Play with Sharp Objects - A Cautionary Tale

I was at a home inspection a couple of weeks ago with a buyer's agent. We were standing on the rear deck discussing the installation of hurricane shutters - it's a thing in Key West.  The other agent had
a knife in his hand which he kept flailing about as he was talking. I kept telling him not to move his hand around.  He had something important to tell me. He felt compelled to keep moving that damned knife in the direction of my head. He wasn't mad. He was oblivious to the danger he could cause.

I had enough and told him the true story that happened in Denver three decades ago. I owned a bunch of apartments in Denver. I was on a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma to testify in federal court against a guy who owned our bank a lot of money. My partner called me to tell me the story of what happened to Rick.

Rick was a 30 something tall, thin, exceeding handsome gay man who rented from me. He was the captain at the fine dining restaurant at one of Denver's premiere hotels. My partner told me that he had taken some new mini blinds to install in Rick's apartment.  Mini blinds are inexpensive and easy to install. All you need is a nail or drill to create a starter hole and then a screw driver to affix a screw to fasten a bracket to the window frame. Rick saw my partner put up one of the blinds and offered to help.

Within a few seconds of picking up a screw driver, Rick poked a hole in his eye. He screamed. My partner grabbed him and rushed him to Denver General Hospital. The wound was too severe to wait minutes for an ambulance. They were at the hospital in just a few minutes. It didn't matter. Rick lost his eye. It was heart breaking. This was life changing. It was forever.

I tell people this story because people do dumb things all the time without considering the consequences. There is a reason your mother told you not to play with sharp objects.