715 Chapman Lane, Key West - Just Listed

Just Listed, but not by me, 715 Chapman Lane, Key West. Buyers looking for the charm of an old home and the convenience of contemporary stile need to see this place. But before we go inside, let's look back at the no so distant past.

I found this photo of 715 Chapman Lane in my old shoebox. I have a bunch of similar photos showing laundry hung from the front porch of houses all over Old Town. Times have changed. Most people have washers and dryers and air conditioning now. That was not always the case.  

The above photo was taken in August 2019 while the renovation was being done. The photo below was taken in December 2020 before all the renovations were completed. Most of the homes on Chapman Lane have undergone the same renovation to varying degrees. This new home fits perfectly into this historic old neighborhood.

Let's start from the front door. Notice the detail from street inward. The front porch sets the tone for the rest of the house. All windows and doors are impact resistant. The shutters are there for style and nothing else/ Look up and notice the down-lights. Look down and see the TREX decking.

The master bed and bath are located just off the front door which was moved to the left side of the home. The hallway leads to the living area at the rear. This little change made the space usage so much better. Moreover, take a look at the style the owners brought to the new space. There is a tub and shower in this extraordinary bath. I remember the old place. It wasn't anything like this.

The original has was added onto several years ago. The addition included a spiral staircase that lead to the second floor. But that addition did not look anything like how the house appears now. What an incredible difference. New wood seamlessly transition out to the TREX deck and pool. The original kitchen had a wood door in the center that opened to back yard. Today doors disappear into the wall. I would love to see the reaction of the former owners if they could travel forward in time to see their home. The original home functioned for them and in their day. This home will meet the needs of a modern buyer - probably a person looking for a second home.

The loft bedroom runs the length of the original house. Opaque glass is provides privacy when viewed from below. The laundry room is hidden behind similar opaque door on the first floor. Lots of consistent details everywhere.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and many photos of 715 Chapman Lake Key West offered for sale at $1,799,000. Then please text me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing of this home. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

 

Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No. 36

From June 19, 2011

Ï Hope You Are Not French!"

Outside my kitchen window last year - hoping I'm not French

 Many of my readers and customers who send me emails know that I have a terrible sleeping problem which stems from a fall I took a couple of years back while showing a bank owned property in Key West. I ended up in the Lower Keys Hospital with a concussion. I'm okay, now, but I did take a big spill. Damned cheap banks that don't take care of their bank owned homes! Anyway, if you have ever suffered a concussion you know that one of many symptoms can be a sleeping disorder. That is my long term and seemingly ever-lasting legacy of the tumble. For a while a would go to sleep around 6:00 to 7:00 PM and then wake up at midnight or shortly thereafter. Now my sleep is finally getting back to normal but I continue to have regressions to early evening beddy-bye. But I guess I am doomed to be an early riser forever. Last year I awoke way too early. I had already had coffee and decided to make breakfast at a time some Key Westers were probably getting ready to go to bed. I went back into the kitchen and saw the frog shown above. He was clinging to the outside of the kitchen window watching me. I found my camera and took his pic so that I would not forget him. 

A few days ago I was again awake way too early for any sane person. I had left the kitchen door open and a frog had found its way inside the kitchen. He saw me and jumped onto my stove. He was a bit too eager to be eaten in my opinion. Were I French, he would be history. Instead, I decided to ignore him. I poured another cup of coffee, turned out the lights and left him. The next time I returned, the frog was gone and all I had were memories of the tiny creature. Frogs are strange creatures. I guess they are always here, but unless you have a murky pond or needy pool, you just don't see them and certainly don't hear them. But they reappear annually in late Spring. If you are an early riser like me you can hear them croaking come May. I don't recall how long they stay because they just stop their noise and disappear into the flora and fauna only to reappear the following year.

An iguana inspecting my pool

 

I don't want to scare any potential buyers by reporting on the little animals that live here. My experience have been harmless. A few years ago I was having some work done at my house. Two of the workers were from Nicaragua. They saw a 3 foot iguana walking around in the backyard where we were working. They tried to catch it. They couldn't. The lead carpenter was from England. He picked up a large 6" x 6" post and hit the beast on the head, killing him instantly. The time was 11:45 AM. He took the Iguana home at noon. He returned at 12:30 and announced he had thrown the Iguana into a pot and was making Iguana Soup. I wasn't home at the time and would not have allowed that to happen.

Later that day after everyone had left I saw a baby Iguana about 12 inches long walking by my pool. He wasn't even afraid. I thought buddy, you better move or you could get thrown into the pot with your dad. The next day the carpenter retold the story of his slaying the Iguana and reported on what a tasty tail the beast had. "Best Iguana I ever ate", he said.

I live in the Casa Marina area of Key West. My house is four or five blocks from the beach. It's an easy walk or bike ride for me. One Saturday afternoon several years ago I found a large blue crab swimming in my pool. I found an old five gallon bucket and scooped the crab out of the pool and thought the poor thing was lost. So I rode my bike with the bucket-o-crab back to the ocean where I returned him to the sea. Later someone told me the crab was probably horny and was walking around looking for a mate. He said that crabs leave the ocean and move inland when they want to do it. Little did I know I was messing with the crab's sex life. 

One Saturday afternoon I was taking a nap. We had left two packages of baby back ribs on the kitchen counter to defrost. I got up and decided to get them into the oven for a long slow bake. But when I went into the kitchen there was just one package. I looked everywhere. I remember having seen two packages on the counter. I looked in the freezer and the refrigerator. I looked in the oven. I looked high and low throughout the kitchen. I even went outside trying to figure out where the second package could have gone. I could not find it. Our baby back rib night was less filling than planned. Maybe a week later I found the opened cryopak in the back yard. Something had made its way into the kitchen and stole the package and took it outside where it opened the package (taint easy either). The meat was 'all gone'. Nothing left inside the package. The store label identified the package as my stolen dinner. I don't have a dog or a cat. The carpenter that ate the iguana and the Nicaraguans were no longer working at my house. We do have some homeless people that walk the streets from time to time, but they don't come inside my property and surely none of them eat raw pork. I did see a raccoon in my yard once. Maybe he was the culprit. No way to know for sure.

I have a small apartment at the side of my house. A few years ago a really sweet young couple (Sean and Jen) lived there for nearly five years. There was a fish pond near their entrance and that had some creepy fish that lived inside. I decided to clean up the pond, buy a new pump, and make the pond look even better by adding some large Koi. I went to the pet store and bought three good sized Koi and some small feeder fish. I introduced them to the newly cleaned pond and felt proud of myself. Note to self: don't feel proud of yourself because vanity will do you in. The next day I was driving home from work and saw this big egret walking around at the corner. I never see egrets walking around my house. I got worried and ran over to Jen's apartment. She came out and said "Gary, they ate the fish!" My three Koi were gone. I had not created a place for them to hide. Little did I now that egrets had such good sense of sight or smell or whatever it was to find fish in one day. If you are looking for a place in Key West and are up for a little backyard adventure or two, CLICK HERE to search the Key West mls database. See if you find a place that interests you. If you do, please consider contacting me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. I am not French, and I don't eat frog legs or other living creatures that I have found in my yard.

Just Listed: 522 Elizabeth Street, Key West, Fl

I have been waiting for a long time to see 522 Elizabeth Street, Key West listed for sale. The day has arrived. I got a chance to take a look earlier today. This is a project house - a major renovation. It will require a buyer with great imagination and deep pockets. The reward will be substantial. This will once again be a beautiful home in a great Old Town location.

I searched around in my old shoebox and found a photo of the same property that was taken nearly sixty-two years ago. The black and white photo shows the second floor front porch was partially enclosed even back then. If you look carefully you will see that the house was wider than deep. Later owners would extend the main floor toward the rear. Also note the sprig of a tree that would later engulf the house.

Today the trees overwhelm the house. I believe, but cannot guarantee, a new owner could remove the trees in front and rear of this property. That would make the other renovations both easier to accomplish and enhance the facade and allow for the creation of a rear garden and pool. 

I looked around the inside of the house as best I could. The place does not have electricity and I decided not to venture into dark rooms. The MLS photos show most of the rooms. The listing shows the house has 3,259 Sq Ft of living space plus porches and decks. The lot measures 44'X 102' or 4,359 Sq Ft.  The Monroe County Property Appraiser map shows the house as sitting on or over the south border of the adjacent property to the south. The listing agent told me a new survey is being completed and will be available to potential buyers for review. I have a suggestion:remove all trees; lift the house and move it to the north and place on new piers. This house is located in the X Flood Zone. The garage would probably go away but the property would have better street appeal if the driveway was bricked. I found a photo I took of this property in 2010.  It looked better then.We all did.

CLICK HERE to view more photos I took of this property. The rear yard is a mess. That is easy to clean up. When the trees are removed you will have a clean slate with which to create your own perfect garden and pool The house itself seems structurally sound which should allow for the removal of current non-load bearing walls and the restructuring of room sizes and usage. An interior staircase will need to be added. But there are multiple locations to choose from. (Staircase in photo goes to third floor loft bedroom.)

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet for 522 Elizabeth Street, Key West, offered at $1,555,000. The please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to arrange a private site visit. Bring your contractor, architect, and money-manager to preview this home - one of the last remaining big old houses of Key West. 

I drove by the house on Southard Street where Charlie Brown and the gang reigned supreme for the past several Christmas seasons. The house was sold this year and Charlie is nowhere to be seen. ALAS...

Happy Thanksgiving 2021

I found this photo of Thanksgiving celebration in Key West dated 1954. The first thing I saw was the turkey, then the ham, and then the lady on the far left with a cocktail glass in her right hand with left arm raised and index finger pointed. The woman next to her copies her pose as if making some secret Key West salute. All of the other mothers have their arms raised holding cocktails as well. I saw the hot plate and the over-sized pots. I remembered the lunch ladies in my grade school cafeteria and the aroma of mystery meat. They are all drinking alcohol. Look at all the booze! Lots of it. This was not a school function. And these are not lunch ladies. 

Of course this is not a school. Look at all of the switches on the wall and all of the light fixtures behind the women. This must be a light store or hardware store. I looked in my shoebox and found phots of two electric stores in Key West in the 1950s. The first is 504 Angela located across from my office. It is now a bar. The lower photo is 215 Duval Street. It later became and still is Shorty's. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all the lunch ladies, drinkers, non-drinkers, recovering drinkers and potential customers! 

Key West Real Estate Trivia No. 3 Updated

Where is this?

Come back tomorrow for the answer.

I took this photo in 1986 or 1987.

As an aside HARC does not allow owners in Old Town to add dormers to their homes. This property was built prior to 1889 with the dormers.

The answer is 600 Fleming Street, Key West. It has been many things over the years including...

The site of Fausto's Grocery and a survivor of the October 1944 hurricane.

A greeting place when our boys returned from saving the world.

The Q Rooms in 1987 when the building was purchased for $270,000. It was renovated and became The Marquesa Hotel and Mira - the first restaurant late re-named Cafe Marquesa.

  

513 William Street, Key West

 

513 William Street in an eyebrow house. It is the most beautiful home in all of Key West. And it is for sale. In his book The Street of Key West J. Willis Burke describes the Key West eyebrow house as architectural eccentricity with "windows fitted up high, dropped just beneath the eaves, for shade and to capture the sea breeze and efficiently circulate air within."

I started to take photos of this house in 2006 soon after renovation began. Unfortunately, most of my photos were stored on a defunct website and are lost. Fortunately for the person who buys this home, the owners who did the renovation took a lot of progress photos and gathered historical memoranda that is in an album which will conveyed to the new owner.  The listing Realtor states this home was built in  1845.

513 William Street - 1965

The owners hired Tom Pope as their architect and worked with their interior designer to create the most perfect of perfect homes in Key West. It was and still is, but there was one important thing missing - a real pool and rear gardens. You can't grow ground, but you can buy an adjacent property. 1 Pinder Lane with its 5,500 Sq Ft lot was listed for sale in 2009 and several months later was acquired by the owner of 513 William Street. Mr. Pope and the interior designer went to work and, in collaboration with HARC, created the masterpiece this property is today. Both properties were torn apart and rebuilt. Steel beams were added to William. HARC granted permission to take down all but the façade of of Pinder Lane. Pinder became the guest cottage with garage. A stunning pool and gardens were create.  .

2001

Upon completion the combined homes offer 4.373 Sq Ft of interior living space including five bedrooms, six baths, study, multiple living and entertainment areas, and a captivating pool and garden area. Let's take a look.

I have written before that none of the eyebrow houses are the same. This one certainly is not. The four quadrants off the center stairway include the study first floor right; bedroom and bath left front, second floor bath; and second floor bedroom

Dormers were added at the rear which allowed the introduction of more sunlight into the area. The property is wired for the 21 St Century and has a control center located on this floor as well. I watched in amazement at all the things an owner can do in a faraway place to a house located on a little island at the end of America. 

The rear of the house has only one level. The day I showed he home all of the French doors were open. The summer heat and humidity were gone. The skies were blue and sweet breeze blew the curtains inward. It was magical!

Everything you see in this house is included in the sale price except for two paintings. The furnishings alone cost more than some of our finest homes. The views are priceless.

Remember the guest cottage was newly built The spaces are enchanting, the colors vibrant and subtle, the furnisins inviting, the pool views made me so wish I could live there - forever.

The guest cottage has a smaller sitting area off the main living space. It also has French doors which open out to the pool I climbed the stairs to view the tree-top room with twin beds. I marveled at the colors I would never imagine working. But they did. Then I went down stairs to the large bedroom with cathedral ceiling and French doors that opened to a private tropical garden. This place does not stop.

Serious buyers must experience this home in person. But anyone can watch the YouTube video by clicking below.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 513 William Street, Key West, Florida offered for sale at $6,999,000. Then please text me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to discuss viewing this home. I am a buyers agent and full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.