1007 Watson Street, Key West - Just Listed

Just Listed and just in time for the Holidays, a brand spanking new renovation of an Old Town home located near the places second home owners want to be. 

The listing Realtor describes 1007 Watson Street, Key West thus: 

"This charming Old Town Cottage has undergone a full-scale renovation, is now beautifully appointed, and ready for new Owners. The original historical shotgun design has been maintained but inside you will find all new windows, doors, plumbing, wiring, and cooling system. Watch the world go by on the sweet Front Porch and then step into the delightful open concept floorplan featuring a vaulted ceiling with cove lighting. Gorgeous engineered White Oak flooring, Stainless appliances, Carrera marble countertops, beautiful, undulated Subway tile and Ship-Lap walls all contribute to the cozy Cottage vibe of this perfect home. The Main floor affords a Guest Bedroom with a shared Bath, as well as an inviting Primary Bedroom with Ensuite Bath. Enjoy working from home or entertaining friends in the cheerful spacious Loft space, complete with Closet and Built-Ins. The Rear Porch is just the right spot for morning coffee and starting your day in Paradise. Located in the X Flood Zone and a great Old Town walkable and bikeable Neighborhood."

Let''s take a look. Follow me as I enter the front door.

The outside is crisp and clean. I entered the house and was struck by how white and bright everything appeared. The new oak floor had a white wash look to it so it. I noticed black accents in multiple directions as well as the muted tones of the brushed nickle cabinet pulls. It all flowed together. I liked!

I remember standing near the fancy sink surveying the kitchen and dining area. Then I went down the hall looking for the living room. Thee were two bedrooms and two baths. I went back up front and looked up to what I thought would be a bedroom. I was wrong. It was the loft living area that opens down to the kitchen area. I walked up stairs and found this bid open space with octagon windows on the east and west sides and a skylight in between. The wood floor transitioned into a cushy white wall-to-wall carpet. The arrangement  would not work for everybody, but it will work for the right person. This is style. Furnishings may be purchased separately.

The renovator did a really good job of creating a house different from everybody else. The guest bath is located by the stairs going to the loft living area. But it also opens into the guest bedroom in the first photo above. So the bath seems privet most of the time. The primary bedroom is in the rear. It has a door that opens to the rear deck. Both bedrooms have skylights which bring additional light inside beyond the windows and door. The master bath pictured above also has a window and skylight. I never saw a glass wall panel as interesting as this. Look carefully there is a recess for stealing kisses at the rear left. 

The wood decks appear to be Ipe and crate a sophisticated area for enjoying the outdoors. A gate on the south side opens to an easement which leads back to Watson Street. I stood there and remembered what is/was on the other side of the fence. I wrote about that space in February 2017.

 

"New to the Key West real estate market is 1009 Watson Street. I wrote about  this hidden gem a few years ago. It is so hidden that I cannot find the original blog. I remember the first time I saw this house several years ago. It is located down a narrow walking lane that is sandwiched between to old houses which front onto Watson Street. The house emerged at the rear as it does today but then I took in the true majesty of the location. The yard is huge by Key West standards and especially huge for being located behind two nice but non-assuming houses. I searched in my old shoebox and found a photo of the front houses and the walkway of fifty plus years ago."

See. I told you!

At the beginning of today''s blog I mentioned 1007 Watson Street is located near where second home owners want to be. The house is located about two hundred feet south of Truman Avenue. The photo above shows that location in 1890. That is the OH NO LAUNDRY in the foreground. The empty lot across the street eventually became a Key West landmark in its own right. Today it is called Bare Assets. Duval Street if five blocks to the west. White Street four to the east. The ocean is a ten minute walk to the south. The seaport is ten minutes north.

The house first appeared in the 1892 Sanborn Fire Map as 107 Watson Street. The street number was changed to 1007 Watson on the 1899 map. I found a photo of the house in my old shoebox. It looks nothing like it did even fifty plus years ago. Neither do the houses on either side.

 

 NEW PRICE  CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet for 1007 Watson Street, Key West Fl offered for sale at $1,175,000. Then please text me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to arrange a private showing of this charming new old home. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

 

 

Macarthur Homes Key West

 

I recently found a few photos of houses being built in Key West during World War II - not after but during. I knew the homes were located just south of North Roosevelt Boulevard. They had subtle differences to prevent returning sailors returning home and going to bed with the wrong women. 

These were known as the Macarthur Homes - maybe named after General Douglas Macarthur. They were 600 square feet, two bedrooms, one bath, all situated on a 5,000 square foot lot. Over the years they were renovated, enlarged, and some were razed and new home built. 

This 1950 aerial photo above shows the Macarthur Homes situated just south of North Roosevelt Boulevard The larger street in the foreground is 4th Street which at that point in time did not intersect with Roosevelt Boulevard which was then known as The Overseas Highway. It looks to be only two lanes. If you look carefully you will see First Street that is only street to intersect with Roosevelt. Over the years North Roosevelt was enlarged into a four lane roadway  and became the main point of entry into Old Town Key West. The previously barren coral rock was filled and developed into commercial space. The Navy dredged the way to the north now houses several marinas

The 1999 photo above shows the progressive changes to this area. I took the photo below earlier today. It is an updated version of an original home in this neighborhood. Some of the houses look equally charming and others are a bit forlorn. That happens everywhere.

Key West Renters & Owners Who Knew We Were Coming...

... but didn't care.

Below are photos I took while showing rental apartments and investor owned homes offered for sale in Key West  All tenants were notified in advance their places would be shown on a particular day and time. 

A mother, small daughter, and a stinky cat lived here. I specifically mention the cat because the odor lives on in my memory.
 

A large family lived in this Bahama Village rental. The listing Realtor gave them cash to leave, He and I hired cleaners to remove the heaps of crap they left and clean the filth..

The listing agent insisted this was a piece of paradise. Yeah. Paradise Lost!

I posted photos of this house before. It was owned by a former City of Key West official. He lacked organizational skills among other things.

I have shown this photo before as well. I have never gotten over how some people live. This was an illegal rental situation where multiple tenants shared a single family home. Some of the rooms were clean and tidy. This combination kitchen sink and bathroom was not one of those. 

I remember showing this place to a really nice investor couple who bought four or five places from me. The two women tenants apologized for not straightening up They were too busy with work.

This was a unit in a 4+ apartment building. Tenants in two of the apartments kept their places clean and neat. And this person less so. 

I actually remember taking this photo. Several roommates shared a single family home that was offered for sale. This renter kept everybody out. The rest of the house was in good condition so it was fair to assume that room was probably okay. But some people live like rats and you take a chance when you really can't look. And there may be no assurance that a potential hold-over tenant rat boy will leave.

My favorite Home Alone and I Don't Even Care photo is of the master bedroom with en-suite bath from hell. Some loony old lady lived in this hell hole. I showed the place in this condition. I wrote an all cash offer for a buyer who lost out to an offer written by the listing agent. 

41 Years and a Day Later Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No. 37

from 9-16-2015 - Redacted from a longer blog

My First Job

 

Yesterday was the 41st anniversary of the death of John Lennon. Guests on Morning Joe were citing their recollections of the man, the band and its impact on our lives.  The blog follows.

I went back to Denver at the end of July to attend my 50th high school reunion. I drove by the places of my youth which included this group of buildings located at the corner of 44th and Yates Street. I started working there in 1960 at age 14 and stayed until 1965. Back then this was known as LOOK FURNITURE STORE. This was my first job.

This area is located at the northwest corner of Denver near the famous Lakeside Amusement Park and former Lakeside Speedway. The old Denver Tramway crossed over Cherry Creek and made its way eventually heading north on Yates Street where it jogged two blocks west and ended at Lakeside Park at 46th and Sheridan. This was the end of the line and also the end of  Denver until just after World War II when the western suburbs began to emerge just west of Sheridan Boulevard. Before the War and even afterward to some extent, many people did not have cars. They relied on their feet and public transportation like the Denver Tramway. Little neighborhood convenience stores and theaters were the forerunners of shopping centers that popped up in the 1950s. The corner building (top photo) was originally a drug store. The gray monster to the right used to be the Coronet Theater. The buildings that front onto Yates Street were small stores. 

Denver Tramway car at 40th and Yates C. 1910

Danny Ferguson was the owner of Look Furniture.  He made doorway openings between the separate spaces to create one very large retail space. The main entry was in the middle on Yates Street. It looks like a subsequent owner removed the doorway passages and turned the spaces and buildings into separate entities. The former main entry (below) is now an abandoned showroom of some sort. Most of the other store fronts appeared abandoned.

One of the buildings on the Yates Street was where we sold new and used appliances. In addition to helping load and unload furniture, I would dust the furniture, mop the floors, and clean used appliances so that they would look clean for resale. I got pretty good at it. When I turned 16 I got to help deliver furniture. My pay went from fifty cents and hour to a dollar an hour. I saved my earnings and used them to pay for my trip to Europe in the summer of 1963 where I got to see President Kennedy in Berlin and to run through the cobblestone streets of Salzburg Austria on a rainy Saturday night. I worked for below minimum wage. But I worked and I learned the value of money and of saving. I paid my way through college and law school. I did not do a lot of the things other kids my age did. There is a trade-off for that. Looking back I don't know if I made the right choices. But I can't change the choices I made. 

In August 1964 I had to drive a big truck to downtown Denver to deliver furniture. I had to go past the corner of Colfax at Broadway. That was a mistake. The BEATLES were staying at the Brown Palace Hotel about two blocks away. I got caught up in traffic hell. There streets were flooded with girls. Traffic was stopped in all directions. I found one photo that shows the chaos around the hotel and another that shows the crowd at Red Rocks Amphitheater located about 12 miles away at the foot of the Rockies. These photos show the way girls wore their hair back in the mid 1960s. They all looked alike.  This July when I walked into the registration at my reunion, the women all had gray hair or white hair. One woman was in a walker. You have no idea how depressed that made me feel. No way whatsoever - unless, like me, you are over 65.

Scotty's Lumber Legacy in Key West

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key West has been a tourist town for decades dating back to the time Henry Flagler brought his railroad to town. While the population remained fairly static during the same time frame, tourists and later second home owners put a strain on available housing. The town expanded south toward the Atlantic Ocean and east toward the point US 1 enters the island. Both areas had previously been barren coral rock mixed in with salt ponds. There were two principle sources of lumber and hardware - Lindsey's Lumber located at the corner of Simonton at Truman. Stunk Hardware was located at the opposite end of Simonton Street near the Gulf of Mexico. Consider this - Key West is an island located 120 or so miles from firm US soil. Lumber and most building supplies are delivered to Key West by truck. Having a single source of one style of kitchen cabinet made sense back in the day.

Scotty's lumber was located at the corner of 700 Catherine Street - just east of First State Bank. I recall Scotty's relocated back to the corner of Simonton at Truman. See photo below. 

Scotty's then moved to 2801 North Roosevelt Blvd in Key West. That building was built around the same time the adjacent Walgreens. I read online that Scotty's was a Florida based lumber yard with locations across the state. In later years Scotty's added discount pricing to a variety of goods to compete with Home Depot and Lowes. Locally the new Manley deBoer Lumber Company offered premium lumber in Key West. Scotty's was razed in 2004 and replaced by a brand new Home Depot.

That's not the end of Scotty's legacy, however. A few weeks ago I showed visiting buyers a few homes that were built in the early 1990''s. I pointed to the kitchen cabinets. I had seen the same cabinets in Truman Annex, 1800 Atlantic Condominiums, Windward Park Town Homes, and countless single family homes in Key West. Scotty's was the primary provider kitchen cabinets for years. Here are some examples. The first photo is an active listing.

The same cabinets were even in my house when I bought it.Today Home Depot offers a variety of cabinets in many price ranges. Hansen & Bringle Cabinets and Millwork make custom cabinets in Key West while other stores sell special cabinets from other areas and states. Scotty's legacy lives on.