401 South Street, Key West - Landmark Property For Sale

"Through the crystal-clear air Lori could hear the ringing of the agent's bell...that had begun when the package had first been sighted, carefully picking it's way past the outer reefs toward the lighthouse at Whitehead's Point."          - Thelma Strabel, Reap the Wild Wind

Preferred Properties Key West just listed 401 South Street, Key West. This home sits opposite what was once called Whitehead's Point. Tourists from all over the world come here to take photos as a remembrance of the best vacation of their lives. Were you to buy this one-of-a-kind home I would suggest that you must really like people because people will stand across the street from your home every day to take photos of themselves for as long as you own the property.

But at night when the tourists have moved down to Mallory Square to view the amazing Key West sunset, you will have the view of the old Whitehead's Point to yourself.  You can watch the nightly sunset from your main level or second floor balcony with a view nobody in Key West can ever have. The balmy breezes from the Atlantic Ocean will brush the palms that flank this corner property.  At night after the tourists are gone you will hear the sound of tiny waves as they lap the coral rock where South Street and Whitehead Street meet at the place now called the Southernmost Point. This is the yin and yang of this property.  

The original house is constructed of Indian Block, a man-made material similar to modern concrete block except that Indian Block has a finished decorative carved-rock aspect. Over the years the original front porch and second floor balcony were modernized as is shown in the 1965 black and white photo.   What you may not see unless you look at all the photos with care is that 401 South Street has three bays: The front bay is obscured by the enclosed front porch. The east side bay is not visible from the street whereas the west bay is quite prominent as it can be viewed by all.

The immediately above photo shows the front bay on the main floor. The house plus the rear bungalow have been divided into three legal living units. The first floor and second floor currently used as separate apartments and are pretty much carbon copies of each other as to interior layout. The original interior staircase has been removed, but a portion of the stairs still remains. Re-installation of a staircase would be fairly simple were a new owner want to restore this home back to a single family residence.  Note the extra large crown molding that wraps the front bay. The crown molding can be found in all first floor rooms. I did not take a tape measure with me when I photographed this house. My guess is that the ceiling height on the main floor is at least ten feet tall.

The above photo was taken in the dining room on the first floor. The west bay window is seen on the extreme left. The front porch is enclosed with screen. Even the screen can't diminish the view of the ocean.

The west second floor bay shows the superior condition of the Indian block construction. The next photo shows some of the original detailed stone work that is still in excellent condition. It would be interesting to see how a current day architect might reinterpret the original porches to restore some of the historic appeal of the house while retaining privacy for a new owner.

The views from the second floor deck are pretty impressive.  Imagine sipping your morning coffee from the second floor balcony before the tourists arrive.

A simple bungalow is located at the back far east side of the lot. This space is a basic Old Florida bungalow with grassy yard, palm trees, and louvers that keep the sun and rain out but that allow air and sunlight in.  Ralph Lauren would have a field day decorating this little gem. The bungalow would make the perfect guest cottage. There is plenty of room for a pool and still retain off street parking for two cars.

The main house and bungalow total 2845 sq ft of interior living space. The lot is 76' wide and 100' deep. There is room to expand the main house and bungalow. I took more photos and share historic photos I found which you may view if you CLICK HERE. 401 South Street is offered for sale by Preferred Properties Key West at $3,100,000.

CLICK HERE to view the mls datasheet on this Key West Treasure. Better than looking at photos or reading a blog, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to arrange a private showing of this special home. Today's blog is an update of one I wrote in 2014 when this house was for sale then. The current owner updated the house after that purchase. But it still remains three units. It deserves more. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

 

In Honor of PRIDE MONTH - Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No. 24

From August 14, 2013

GAY DIVORCE COURT

Frequent Readers may know that many years ago (I started practice in 1973) I was an attorney in Arvada, Colorado which is a suburb of Denver.  I worked in a five man law firm where I handled a variety of types of cases. My first divorce case was a true learning experience. I landed a lulu. I can't recall all of the details which is good since I might get accused of breaching client confidentiality. But I do recall the lessons I learned in dealing with people who are splitting up, namely - get paid up front and make sure to charge enough money; don't get suckered into the bitterness; try to convince the client not to go crazy and end up in jail for hitting the mother-in-law or the new boyfriend (or girlfriend); charge plenty of money - yes, plenty of money. Repeat charge plenty of money. 

In that first case I represented a woman who lived in Adams County, a suburb north of Denver. My practice was in Jefferson County a suburb west of Denver. The county seat was in Golden, Colorado where Coors Beer is made.  I filed the divorce action in the Jefferson County District Court since all District Courts have statewide jurisdiction. The husband hired an attorney who accepted the venue in Jefferson County. If he had challenged we would have lost. But that's the only easy thing that happened in this case. My recollection is hazy on whether my client (the wife) or her husband got arrested for assault on the opposite party. That action landed whichever party in the Adam's County jail. I know I was there but can't recall why I was there. A couple of weeks later I appeared in the El Paso County District Court in Colorado Springs where the husband had been arrested for fighting with or inside the wife's mother's home. I was involved in three jurisdictions involving two criminal cases and one divorce case. I vowed to not let something like that happen again.

But it did. Repeatedly. Within a few months I represented a nice looking young guy in his late 20s who was a Casper Milk Toast banker type guy. Clean cut and handsome. He had a beautiful wife and a couple of really cute kids. He owned a nice suburban house. And his world was falling apart.  He stalked the wifey and found some good looking stud hanging around the house when his kids were there. My client barged in and got himself arrested for beating the other guy up. Even Casper Milk Toast guys can beat up studs if given good cause. We ended up in criminal court. The wife's attorney was a woman (which was relatively new in those days). The attorney took a genuine dislike to me which I found odd. I think I am and have always been like able. I do not now nor did I then consider myself to be sneaky or mean or anything other than professional. But that lawyer and I never did get along. Oh and my client got arrested for beating up the studly boyfriend a second time. The stud should have learned not to mess around with the wife when the kids were home. We eventually got the divorce the couple wanted. It cost the couple a lot of money. I wonder if the stud ended up with the wife. I wonder if the kids ended up marrying and divorcing and fighting with their spouses (or boyfriends or girlfriends). I am a believer that people repeat their parents' lives. 

I represented another guy who got arrested for pushing his wife's head down the toilet during the middle of the divorce. That did not look very good. I think we entered into a plea bargain on that. I don't think I would ever let something like that go to trial.

I represent a general contractor on a couple of matters. He and wife had split a few years earlier.  The divorce decree was in place as was the order for monthly child support. He was substantially in arrears.  The District Attorney filed a motion to hold my delinquent client in contempt of court for non payment of child support. This normally results in the man paying arrears rather than being found in contempt and ordered to jail. I warned my client of his pending doom if he did not pay. He hated the ex and said he would take time off work just to mess with her. The hearing was held near Christmas week. My client was found in contempt of court and taken into custody that day and spent the next week in jail.  The jail sentence purged him of contempt but did not free him of the obligation to pay the past due child support payments. The wife would have to wait a long time before she could prosecute a new contempt of court proceeding.

I stopped doing divorces and went into banking. Twenty years ago I moved to Key West. A couple of years later I got my real estate license and started to sell houses. Key West has a large gay population and every now and then gay couples decide to call their relationships 'quits'.  Since the State of Florida has never legalized same sex marriage, there is no such thing as a gay divorce. But that does not stop legal battles about property splits or spousal abuse.

I remember showing a house a few years ago where two guys were splitting up. One of the partners got to stay with the house while the other moved to another property the pair owned. The men owned a business over which they were quarreling in court. The local bank that financed that business got involved in the partnership breakup and got a receiver appointed to protect the assets of the business. Both men hired separate lawyers. The bank hired its lawyer and the receiver hired his lawyer. The four lawyers took substantial fees from the proceeds of the sale of the business and the house which had a special bedroom that was painted black and that had a sling.

A female couple called it quits a couple of years ago. They hired lawyers in the state where they lived to help adjudicate the property split. They also owned a place in Key West which had to be sold and the money sent to the home state for final distribution. They had lawyers where they lived and lawyers down in Key West just to make sure the other side did not gain a pecuniary advantage. Justice costs money. Justice makes some lawyers quite wealthy.

Several states have approved legislation that recognizes gay marriages or civil unions. There will inevitably be gay divorces. I expect gays will do divorces like they do parades - with panache.

And that caused me to envision what we might see on a TV show called GAY DIVORCE COURT. I can just envision the drama we could witness.  There would be tales straight folks could not imagine.  It might be hilarious. It might be tragic.  I can envision ribald tales over the splitting marital property and fighting over such things as the collection of clown plates painted by Red Skelton (really!) or anything the pair mutually collected.  Straight couple fight over custody of the children. Gays will inevitably fight over pets.  And since many gay couple are now parents, there will be custody disputes where the real reason for the split will be aired. A former fellow agent who split with his partner of many years told me his ex beat him up. The guy who got beat up is a big man.  I was shocked but sometimes smaller guys can really mess up bigger guys. Another former fellow agent has been arrested for domestic battery by strangulation - twice.  Women beat each other as well.  I expect nothing less than hilarity or tragedy in each episode. 

Watch for GAY DIVORCE COURT. Someone will produce it.  It ought to be a winner.

June 10, 2021 Update. Gay marriage is now legal. Gay divorces are real but there is no Gay Divorce Court TV show yet. There will be. It would be better than Drag Race.

Key West SOLDS in 2021 - The First 180 Days

 

There are a lot people out there living much of their lives on the internet viewing all manner of things that give them pleasure, er, aah that feed their minds. Some of those people monitor the Key West real estate market seeking a house or condo, a source of income, a long term investment. Some just want to find a home.  I did a quick search of the Key West single family homes that sold (closed sales) in the first 180 days of 2021. There were a whopping 283. Remember Key West is a little island one mile by four miles long with an historical long term population of about 25,000. The least expensive house was 433 Sq Ft "home" located steps from Truman Avenue and across the street from a fish restaurant parking lot. It sold for $365,000 or $863 per sq ft. The third least expensive abode located on Terry Lane in Bahama Village sold for $449,000 or $1,095 per sq ft. The highest priced home was located on Sunset Key. It sold for $6 million or $1,817 per sq ft. It's a mystery to me why the most expensive priced sale occurred at 506 Catherine Street. It sold for $2,381 per sq ft. I don't get that one.

Those numbers don't mean much other than the price of real estate is pretty steep on a per sq ft basis. The trend has been inching upward for several years. This year it leapt up and brought a lot of the market with it. We were trending toward $1,000 per sq ft ask for the past couple of years. We paused during the first few months of the pandemic and sprang into buying mode once the public was back into the Florida Keys. I wrote about this before. What I writing today is news. Of a sort. Sixty four of the 283 single family homes that sold in the first 180 days of 2021 sold over $1,000 per sq ft. That is 22% of the market. 

Then I looked at just the 64 homes that sold over $1,000 per sq ft to see if there was a pattern, an area, a type of home. Several of the houses were smaller in size and located in Bahama Village. One was a $900,000 genuine fixer located on one the canals. The Old Town core and Casa Marina area had the most sales. William Street was the priciest block. Prices surged upward on the south of Truman side of Old Town as did homes located on the east side of White Street. 

The photo at the top of today's blog is quite telling. This is a little side street located about eight blocks from Duval. I had just left a house to take photos for a customer. People were lined up outside with their agents to see the place. It does on constantly. It's like pee wee baseball. Who's gonna win?

 

 

724 Windsor Lane, Key West - Least Exspensive House in Town

During an office sales meeting earlier today I learned that my listing at 724 Windsor Lane is the lowest priced single family home for sale in Key West. I will give you some facts. It is small - just 460 Sq Ft. It has only one bedroom, but it also has a very valuable off street parking space located behind the house. Many million dollar homes in Old Town would beg to have an off street parking space.

I have stressed the value of the parking space while many potential buyers have asked if they could build a swimming pool. Of course they could. What I would do and what a new owner could do are two entirely different possibilities. CLICK HERE to view more photos.

The parking space is located behind the house on Galveston Lane  Bill Butler Park is located at the near the end of Galveston Lane - about 150 feet to the north. It's a quite little piece of Old Key West.  It's a place for grand kids, nieces and nephews, and puppies.

The highest place in Key West is located about 150 feet or so to the west at the corner of Windsor Lane at Elizabeth Street. Duval Street is just two blocks to the west. 

St Mary's Basilica is located two blocks south at the corner of Windsor Lane  at Truman Avenue. I like to tell people they can sin on Duval and be forgiven on Truman - two blocks in either direction. It's true. Although with all that the politicians are doing in Tallahassee and Washington, I am not sure what we do in Key West is worthy of a Dislike let alone condemnation.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on 724 Windsor Lane offered for sale at $599,000. Then call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing to see the least expensive single family home in Key West. 

Typical Key West Buyer: The Floor Tilts

A couple of weeks ago I was showing an old Key West house to a couple of potential buyers. They commented on the uneven floor in the 130+ year old house.  It wasn't quite as glaring as the photo above. In fact it looked pretty good compared to a lot of properties I have shown over the years. 

I took them outside and showed the newer concrete piers added to replace some of original coral rock piers still in place. Buyers like to use old piers and uneven floors as a bargaining chip when negotiating the price they are willing to pay for an old house. I told them of a trip we made to the Cotswold's several years ago. I had read about The Lygon Arms in a travel magazine. It is located in Broadway, England and has roots dating back to the 1300s. We arrived without reservation in early May. We went inside and asked about room availability and rates. They showed us a modern room at an addition in a building to the rear and also one on the second floor of the front building. That room we were told is where Oliver Cromwell slept the night before the Battle of Worcester in 1651. We chose that room.

My heart sank when we walked inside. It was so incredibly English! There was a fireplace, vaulted beamed ceiling, and sagging floors. The above photo shows either a rug or carpet covering most of the floor. I remember a smaller carpet surrounded by old wood floors with centuries old patina. I laughed at the sagging. Who cared. I won't bore you with tales of our visit. Go see for yourself. It is worth every thousand dollars you spend. And more!

My potential buyers said they had been coming to Key West for years and finally decided it was time to buy. They said they had worked with a former Key West real estate superstar Rudy Molinet. They said they should have bought from him years ago. I quickly agreed. They should have. I told them something Rudy told me he would tell to his customers when they started harping on old floors. It went something like this: "It's a hundred years old house. What do you expect?" 

 

 

1316 Whalton Street, Key West

It took twelve years, a lot of lawyers, bankers, Realtors, builders, plumbers, electricians, roofers, landscapers, and a lot of money to create the beautiful home at 1316 Whalton Street, Key West. But it was worth it. Don't you agree?

I first wrote about this property in 2009 when two side by side houses owned by one buyer but financed by two separate banks. The owner offered it as a short sale. The properties were offered for sale but nobody could get a deal worked out with both lenders. Each lender ultimately foreclosed its lien. The larger property at 1316 Whalton Street sold first. Both houses were in total disrepair. The swimming pool was a hazard. Both houses were taken down. 

The foreclosure on the adjacent lot dragged on. Then the new owner put the small lot on the market. Building code would have made construction of a new stand alone single family house impossible. But the lot itself gave the abutting owners an opportunity to buy the lot and further develop their parcel. The owner to the south bought the lot and built a guest cottage addition.

They finished the cottage, put up the fence, installed new landscaping, and created one of the prettiest homes in the already beautiful Casa Marina Area. That is a Royal Poinciana Tree on the property line. These trees blossom in May and June and make our little piece of Paradise even prettier.

It is not for sale. 

 

Key West Realtor Caravan - Suspended Due to Volatile Market

From the Key West Association of Realtors: 

Your Caravan Committee met today and decided that since the market is so hot and we have been unable to get enough properties on Caravan that we will take the summer off and start back with IN PERSON Caravans in September.

 It is insane. Properties go on the market and under contract in a matter of days.

 Work with an experienced Realtor. 

 

 

What is this thing on North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West?

I think it was three or four years ago I noticed workers taking down a concrete block building located at the western edge of the Toyota Dealership on 1618 North Roosevelt Blvd in Key West. I seem to recall going back and taking a picture of the places before it was totally gone because I assumed a new building would replace it. I have looked throughout my old shoe box and cannot find that photo. But I did find two aerial photos taken in 1999 that show the building next KWFD Station1 with Bayview Park to the west.

SLOW FORWARD to maybe December 2020 or so. I noticed workers preparing the site for some new construction. Forms went up and a massive concrete pad was built. In January 2021 the construction to a divergent turn I had never seen in Key West. Giant wood poles were being erected around the perimeter of the concrete pad.

Six weeks later workers were framing the roof of this new wood structure. By this time another row of poles was added to the center of the concrete for which would later support the ridge beam.

June 1, 2021 the building is almost complete. I could not wait until it was completed because curiosity has got the better of me. I cannot figure out exactly the purpose of this new thatched roof building. I do not know of another commercial structure of this type in Key West. But more than that, other than knowing is automotive related, I can't figure out its purpose.

I also need to admit I have been lazy about documenting this structure. The workers sat on top of the roof adding thatches for a couple of months. I intended to photograph their progress. But it went on so long that I lost track of the time. Then one day it was done and they were gone. 

As opposed to months long roof thatching, the palm trees and tropical foliage were installed in a matter of days. They surround the building on the east and north facing street facade. The smaller plants should grow rapidly and within a few months I expect the building will be almost invisible to people driving by.

So this is my dilemma: I can't figure out the purpose of this building. I took this photo over the fence. It shows steel columns with what looks like electric boxes of some type. What is this supposed to be?