A Joy to Behold

The tree house of all tree houses, except, maybe, Kevin's from Home Alone. Located on a quiet street in the Mid-town area of Key West, it stood as sentinel for all that went on before the age of Ring Doorbells save it did not have a time-stamp video recording device. Imagine sitting up there with bros, binoculars, root beers, and keeping track of what is going on. Memories are made of this.

I think some big grown-up kid actually built that. What do you think? Imagine all the planning, buying lumber, hauling it to the house, measuring and cutting, hammering and puttering, that went into creating that kid's tree house. A joy to behold. 

I was driving in the area a few weeks ago and finally stopped to take a photo of the site for posterity. I knew the tree house was lost after Hurricane Irma. I know I reported we did not have any significant loss of homes in Key West. That is still true, but this loss is significant in a different way.  All the big boys who drive by this corner that remember what used to be must cringe every time they see that vacant space. I do.
 

Would You Rent to a Bodybuilder or Person with OCD?

 

The good thing about growing older is that I can still remember things both from my youth and from my recent past. Not all people can do that. So is a blessing.  

Twenty years ago I worked out with a personal trainer five days a week. We became friends of sort - you share life experiences when you are in close proximity 45 minutes each day five days a week. He lived a couple of blocks away from me in Key West. I knew the property. There were four or five one bedroom apartments. He told me his building had an outdoor shower and that he shaved his entire body every day. Every day. With hot water. With hot water!

He was a twenty-something former wrestler with a great build. He was obsessed with himself. This was a short time before selfies came into existence. Now everyone seems to be obsessed with themselves. But his shaving everyday seemed particularly vain. And costly to his landlord. I discussed the water usage with him. It did not concern him - it was the landlord's obligation to provide hot water.

A man I sold a house to a few years ago recently complained about his gay tenant. It is not that the tenant is gay, it is that the guy is a professional gay with OCD. The owner mistakenly permitted the tenant to use his pool when the owner is not home and to use his washer and dryer which are located outside (common in maybe half the homes in town), and to use his outdoor shower which is filled with orchids (not the shower in the above photo but similar). The customer said the tenant takes a shower before he goes to the Island House gym which has a steam room then takes another shower when he returns from the gym. The guy swims in the pool and takes another shower afterward. And so on. He also washes his towels and bedding constantly. The good thing is the tenant does not wear a lot of clothing. 

It is illegal to discriminate in housing. But maybe it should not be to some people. 

Ya'll know I am kidding about the maybe part.

Dick Duane

From THE KEY WEST CITIZEN, OBITUARIES, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

(with photos and remarks by me)

Dick Duane, 91, a former long-time Key West resident, died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. He began his extraordinary career as a MGM contract player, then a well-known singer, advertising executive, literary agent and was true renaissance man. Dick lost a valiant battle against colon cancer. He was instrumental in the creation of the novel “Midnight Cowboy,” written by James Leo Herlihy, and the subsequent packaging of the Academy Award-winning film of the same name. The novel is dedicated to him, as well.

[MIDNIGHT COWBOY premiered in the summer of 1969 amid all the chaos of that era. For me it was a seminal event. Rated "X", it exposed a gritty part of life most Americans had never contemplated. Making MIDNIGHT COWBOY happen was monumental. All that followed are derivative.]

[James Leo Herlihy's house at 709 Bakers Lane. I sold this house in 2010. Google and read the stories about Herilhy's time in Key West and the people and parties at Bakers Lane. Broadway impresario Jerry Herman lived on nearby William Street and created a secret gate at the rear of his property to lessen the walk to Bakers Lane.]

Following several appearances as a solo artist on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and several gold records, he appeared regularly in most major nights clubs in the country and internationally during the 1950s.--

 He produced the off-Broadway play “Stop, Your Killing Me” by James Leo Herlihy (author of “Midnight Cowboy”) at the 73rd Street Theater in 1969. As a board member of Lorillard & Co. and through his company, Duane Enterprises, Dick created major advertising campaigns for Kent brand cigarettes as well as Newport and True Blue brands.

In 1973, Dick, with his partner Robert Thixton, formed Pinder Lane Productions, which quickly grew into a successful award-winning music and film production company in New York City. In 1985, the company expanded and became the celebrity talent booking agency for BBDO New York and subsequently BBDO Worldwide and its affiliates, as well as other major ad agencies throughout the world, signing film stars, performing artists and former vice presidents to endorse and appear in numerous commercials and, in effect created branding.

 

[4 Pinder Lane, Key West was the home Dick Duane and Robert Thixton shared. I wrote about it several times over the years. Robert Thixton's niece, Mary, a Key West Realtor, told me stories of the New York and Hollywood royalty who stayed or partied at this home including Tallulah Bankhead clad in flowery pedal-pushers could sometimes be seen at Fausto’s Food Palace, Cary Grant, Leonard Bernstein, Burt Reynolds, and Anne Jackson among many others who were guests. 

 

I first saw this property about in 2009 when it was listed (with an adjacent cottage that has since been sold) at the then asking price of $4.5 million. My buyers were so taken by this property that they required a second visit that evening.  "Wow!" would be an appropriate description. Duane and Thixton created two Romeo and Juliet balconies inside the house from which the owners or guests might burst into song during soirées. The sun-drenched pool looked like a Hollywood movie set.]

 

 

A successful literary agent with several Key West authors as clients, he was co-owner of Pinder Lane and Garon-Brooke literary Agency, which still represents major literary clients. He is survived by his husband of 50 years, Robert Thixton, who has continued to operate both companies; brother-in-law William F. Thixton (Cathy), sister’s-in-law Christina Ann Knight and Mary Elizabeth Thixton and close Key West friends including Lynn Kaufelt, Jackson Kaufelt, Evangeline Washington, Barbara Robinson, Ernestine Curry, Jim Hogan and Brenda Myren and all who adopted him as theirs and loved him. An important human being graced this world and is now gone. There will be small private service. A video memorial film will be available at a later date.

Dick Duane at a 1986 Key West Literary Seminar which he and David Kaufelt co-founded. Photo credit Jeffrey Cardenas

914 Frances Street, Key West - Old Town Two Story Duplex

Just Listed, but not by me, 914 Frances Street, Key West. This is a fully restored and enhanced two story legal duplex located in the "X" Flood Zone in Old Town. I searched my old shoebox and found a photo taken of the same property 55 years ago. See below.

 

I also searched the historic Sanborn Fire Maps to determine when this property was built. The early maps show a Chinese laundry located at the corner of Division Street at Frances (current day Truman Avenue and the site of Bare Assets) plus a series of small cigar maker cottages in a row then a vacant lot where 914 Frances was built sometime between 1899 to 1912. The photo three above shows modernization to the original house with wrought iron porch posts, aluminum awnings, jalousie windows and metal louver front door. Wrought iron columns were popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I suspect the second floor front was originally an open porch which was later enclosed and the side staircase added when the upstairs was made into a second living unit. 

Both units have private entrances and separate rear main level deck spaces. The main level front door opens into a staircase which leads to the upper unit. See photos below. The downstairs unit is accessed by the door located midway on the right side. That door opens into the great room area. The two bedrooms and bath are located at the front of the building in both first and second floor.

The property has 2,160 Sq Ft of living space under air divided equally between the upper and lower units. Both are two bedroom, two bath plus large great room and kitchen. The units are vacant and both easy to show and not encumbered by current tenants. This gives a new owner the opportunity to move into one and rent the other if that is in your bucket list. Locals will appreciate  the convenient location within easy walking distance to Duval Street and the seaport.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 914 Frances Street, Key West offered for sale at $1,479,000 (or $684 per sq ft). A 2/2 in Shipyard condos but only 646 Sq Ft is offered at $1,082 per sq ft. Having a permanent place to live, full time monthly rental income, and priced at a better price per sq ft is certainly reason to take a look at this property. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to set up a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.  

Disparate House Buys in Key West - 2021

  I tell my real life buyers the same thing I write in my blog, that houses here are all so different that the Zillow algorithm is not all that good at predicting the value or sales price of homes in Key West. I wrote a blog in November 2009 discussing the disparity of similarly priced homes located in good locations. I am doing the search right now as I write today's blog. Let's see what we discover. 

*Disparate Function: adjective Etymology: Middle English desparat, from Latin disparatus, past participle of disparare to separate, from dis- + parare to prepare — more at pare Date: 15th century 1 : containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incongruous elements 2 : markedly distinct in quality or character synonyms see different" from the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. I thought it would be interesting to compare similarly priced properties that are located in good locations in the Old Town, Casa Marina and Meadows areas of Key West. The point of the comparison is to show the disparity of similarly priced homes in desirable locations. My criteria:

Property Type Residential Include Property Sub-type Single Family Status Active, Price 1,600,000 to 2,000,000, Mile Marker 1-2 (When I did the same search in 2009 there were ten homes in the $1.6 to 1.8 range. Today there were only 4. I increased the search criteria to $2. and found 16 homes. I will start from the least expensive and offer five for your consideration.)

1318 Petronia Street

$1,600,000 or  $1155 per sq ft for this 1,385 sq ft Meadows Area 3/3 with pool and off street parking. Nice and clean appearing. 

1408 Petronia Street 

$1.775,000 or $1080 per sq ft for this 1,642 sq ft 3/3 with rear guest cottage but no off street parking also in the Meadows area.

711 Olivia Street

$1.824,000 or1,884 per sq ft for this 1,504 sq ft plus guest cottage, off street parking and pool located in Old Town - about four blocks from Duval.

 

 1013 South Street

$1,995,000 for this 2,856 sq ft 4/4 with pool and off street parking located in the Casa Marina area. 

804 Elizabeth Street

$1,999,900 for this 2,046 sq ft or $977 per sq ft eyebrow house located in Old Town with pool and off street parking located two blocks from Duval.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL OF THE HOUSES ON TODAY'S LIST which have an average list price of $1,887,556 or $941 per sq ft.  I could have narrowed the search to a specific dollar amount. The result would have been pretty much the same but the fewer houses would not have shown the dispareity I see when showing houses. Houses in this price range are almost always in prime conditon. Buyers will often see significant differences at lower price points. 

 

 

1021 Watson Lane, Key West

Just Listed 1021 Watston Lane, Key West Offered For Sale at $680,000 by Preferred Properties Key West. This 744 Sq Ft three bedroom, one bath vernacular home is described by the listing Realtor this way:

"The moment you enter you will fall in love with the charm of this Old Town home. 1021 Watson Lane offers high ceilings, Dade County Pine and natural light throughout. Two sets of french doors open up to an expansive outdoor deck and garden area."

If readers try to do a Google walk on this hidden lane, you won't get too far. Sometimes Google walks amaze me, and other times they fail. This is one of those times. In fact a lot of people cannot differentiate Watson Lane from Watson Street. The lane is located mid-block between Truman Avenue to the north and Virginia Street to the south. The lane dead-ends about twenty five feet east of this house. The house sits on an irregular rectangle of 70' X 42'. It has one off street parking space adjacent on the right. Those are the facts. I found a photo of the house in my old shoebox that was taken in 1965. It sure has changed.

The historic photo shows us the sawtooth addition at the back of the house. That area is where the present day kitchen is located.

Two previously functional scuttles were covered by metal roofing on the exterior, but the original interior elements still exist. Scuttles were part of the roof structure which opened on an angle to allow hot air to vent outward. Some owners replaced scuttles with skylights. 

 

Look closely at the upper photo. You will see the gable peak of the sawtooth addition where the kitchen is located. French doors in the living room open out to the covered deck and garden. The open and covered deck area immensely expand the perceived living area. One of the prime reasons people move to Key West is to have outdoor living space. Don't underestimate the value of this space. I can  put it another way. I have shown places with tiny to teeny to non-existent outdoor areas.

I found a black and white photo of the corner of Frances Street at Truman Avenue located one block east of Watson Street that appears to have been taken sometime around World War II. The recent color photo shows the same location sixty some years later. Keeping ties with our past is another reason buyers want a place in Key West versus other places in Florida. That building was and still is used as a laundry/dry cleaners. Bare Assets is located one block east. Dion's Quick Mart is one block further east. Duval Street is a five minute walk to the west.

 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 1021 Watson Lane, Key West. 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.