907 Frances Street, Key West

The above is Ronny Bailey's folk art depiction of how 900 Frances Street used to look like back in the day. I took a photo of the current building yesterday which is located just below along with a photo taken outside the gate of 907 Frances Street Key West about which you are to read further. (That building has been renovated. It looks decrepit on purpose.)  Living in and among Key West's historic structures is what makes our little town out in the middle of the ocean so different than all the rest of Florida. It's hard to get here and even harder to leave.

I rummaged thru my old shoebox and found a photo dated 1965 of 907 Frances Street. Compare it to the current day color photo. This lovely Conch Cottage was built around 1884. I found it on the 1889 Sanborn Fire Map when it was then identified as 106 Frances Street. Many of our historic houses have had house numbers changed. Many of the other smaller cigar maker cottages located on Frances Street, Havana Lane, Pohlalski Lane, and Jerome Lane remain. The old Pohalski Cigar Factory is gone. Each house is different today but much of the character remains.

This house has two bedrooms and two baths one of which is in the separate guest cottage shown later. The building sketch shows the main house. The livingroom photos dhow the Dade County Pine walls and ceiling. Two of the windows face the south side yard whch allow light to flow into the room.

The main bedroom is located just off the kitchen and the bath is located on the opposite side of the kitchen. If that configuration bothers you, Key West may not be the place for you. Out old houses have been updated to give them amenities never intended. This house has all the style of a Ralph Lauren cottage going on. It is perfectly imperfect.

While the guest bedroom looks reminiscent of a cabin in the woods, locals and returning visitors know Key West has great local theater, music, arts, plus lots of bars, gyms, restaurants, and water sports of all types. We can compete with almost any destination resort. Hotels and real estate developers can make new buildings look old, but, like COKE, the real thing is best.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and more photos of 907 Frances Street, Key West offered for sale at $835,000. 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.

Sawyer's Bakery, Key West - Architectural History Preserved in Folk Art

A couple days ago my friend Ronny Bailey pulled his pickup truck across the street from Preferred Properties Key West to show me his newest piece of folk art - his depiction of the former Sawyer's Bakery that used to exist at 913 Eaton Street. Later I searched the Sanborn Fire Map of 1892 and learned the house existed at least that early. I then searched through my old shoebox and found two photos of the property which date as early as 1960 when workers at Southernmost Sign were photographed out front - see below followed by a 2019 photo of the same property.

Ronny Bailey is a fifth generation Conch from the Roberts family line who immigrated to Key West from the Bahamas. He was a carpenter and roofer in his younger years. He started creating these folk art depictions of our older homes and businesses after he retired. He re-purposes salvaged wood which he cuts and cobbles together to make these miniature buildings. He carves the chickens and folk figures like "Nana" inside the store. Ronny gave me a brief history of the property dating back to when it was home with the adjacent house. Later the owner updated the front of 91e Eaton with larger windows so that so that passers by could look inside to see the hats that were for sale. Some of the most important homes in Key West were located on Fleming and Eaton Street back in the late 1800s.

Ronny is a man of faith and always adds what I call his three watch words to each of his pieces of art: love, peace, and joy. If you study the cake in the window above you will see the word joy. Peace is written on the yellow bench. And I Love Cake is on the top of the building.

Stop and checkout the underside of the roof. It's painted blue to keep bees from nesting. The places looks as old as the real thing. That is fresh paint made to look ancient. Inside Ronny's humor can be found on various signs including the yellow sign that reads FREE CAKE TOMORROW. Ronny recreated an actual sign advertising Key Lime Pie for five cents a slice. Check the spelling for accuracy.

Some of Ronny Bailey's folk art can be viewed and purchased at his online Etsy Store CLICK HERE.

If you are in the market for a real house in Key West, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West . I also bring joy to the world for people who realize the dream of owning a place in Paradise.

527 Fleming Street, Key West - Transient Licensed Property

 

Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West - 527 Fleming Street, Key West. This historic property is located in the Historic District just one-half block east of Duval Street. While it is referred to as a "mixed-use property" which includes retail space on the first floor, an apartment on the second floor, and a guest cottage with a valuable Transient Rental License at the rear, it has been "home" to the current owners for more than thirty years. If you are a buyer and get a chance to see the inside, you will appreciate the care and attention to detail the owners have put into this property. I say "chance to see inside" for good reason - I expect this property will be purchased within a couple of days of hitting the MLS.

I dug down into my old shoebox and found the three black and white photos above which show 527 Fleming Street in several decades ago. The top photo was taken in 1965.  It shows the house when the second floor front porch was screened. The middle photo was taken in 1940 from the La Conch Hotel looking eastward down Fleming Street.  The bottom black and white was also taken from the La Conch Hotel looking down Fleming in 1965. One of the two houses to the west of 527 Fleming Street was relocated to Key Lime Square in the 600 block of Duval Street.  The eyebrow house presumably relocated to another location. Fausto's Grocery appears for the first time in the lower photo.

The street presence cannot be understated. It is magnificent. This Revival style home is the archetype would-be buyers aspire to own. The first floor has been a needlepoint shop for several years. The interior includes Dade County Pine walls, high ceilings, and two-over-two windows. The original interior staircase was removed years ago. The owners occupy rooms at the first floor rear including a bedroom with French doors that open out to the pool. An exterior staircase was added on the right side of the house which provides access to the apartment on the second floor. There is an interior staircase in the apartment that leads to the third floor bedrooms and bath.The previously screened second floor porch is now open. The first and second floor front porches provide lots of people watching opportunities.

The property across the street at 532 Fleming Street was originally the Louise Maloney Hospital. Folk Artist Ronny Bailey created the artwork featured above depicting the building in earlier times.  CLICK HERE to read my blog about that property.

I was simply awed the first time I entered the second floor apartment.  It's sort of a throw back to the the interior renovations made during the 1980s and early 1990s - a time before quartz counter-tops, vessel sinks, and designer this and that. The original Dade County Pine walls have been white washed or painted and framed by custom trim work, crown molding, and high base boards painted crisp white.

I checked the Historic Sandborn Firm Maps to determine the age of the building. The 1889 map showed a grocery store was located at the corner of Fleming and Simonton Street. The black and white photo shows a gas station at that location in 1965. Today that space is a Chinese restaurant. 527 Fleming Street remains in place and looks better than ever. CLICK HERE to view more photos of 527 Fleming Street Key West.

 CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of  527 Fleming Street, Key West, offered at $2,675,000. Then contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to arrange a personal showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

408 William Street, Key West - Ronny Bailey's Homage to the Old Bahama House

The thing that makes Key West different from every place else in America is that it is not like everyplace else - not the people, not the climate, not the rat race, and certainly not the houses. Some current local business people may want to change that.  We know who they are; where they live; and they better just not get too far out there if they know what's best. In the meantime let's celebrate our rich heritage of old homes saved from wrecking balls and developers.

408 William Street, Key West, was brought to Key West from Green Turtle Cay in 1847, and settled into its current home on one of the best streets in Old Town. It has received numerous local and state historic preservation awards. All rooms have windows and or doors to provide natural ventilation (there were no air conditioners in the mid 1800s). 

Local folk artist Ronny Bailey created his artistic homage to the "Old Bahama House" also known as the "Richard Roberts House" which I recently photographed on the back of Ronny's pick-up truck.  Ronny is a multi-generation Conch who retired from the carpentry trade several years ago.  He never lost the joy of working with wood. He started messing around with left over pieces of Dade County Pine from old houses. He cut the old boards into tiny pieces which he used to build replicas of real houses in Key West. He created windows, doors, roofs, and shutters using tiny pieces of the salvaged wood which he meticulously painted.  Note the attention to detail even showing variations of the wood actually used in the real house. See also the peeling paint and evidence of potential wood rot forming at the base of the building. This effect was achieved through paint technique.

Ronny told me this project was too important for just one folk artist to undertake. So he enlisted his grandson to paint the picture of the fish which hangs on the inside wall of the house.  Even though the green painted Bahama shutters have a few failing slats, you still cannot see inside the front windows. However, Ronny left the red door ajar where we can see the inside is equally detailed. All of the interior is also painted  including the walls, ceiling, floors, baseboard, and door trim. Look carefully at the grime on the red entry door framed by green trim and weather-beaten yellow siding.

Note the scuttle visible atop the roof above. It can be seen in both the lithograph and in the 1934 black and white photo taken by a WPA photographer who photographed many of the old houses in Key West during the Great Depression. Scuttles were retractable metal boxes on top of roofs which allowed warm air to rise to the outside. This house house has porches on the south and north sides with windows and doors which allows natural air to cool the inside. The metal roof shows signs of age and rust. Remember this is a tiny replica. Ronny taught himself how to bend old metal to the same shape as real roofs. This ain't easy folks. One time Ronny told me that some of his carpenter friends saw his work and decided to emulate (better word for copy) him. He said they gave up. They could cut and put pieces of wood together, but they could not create any piece that resembled his works. I suggest we nominate Ronny to go on America's Got Talent, but we'd all get bored to death because these pieces take months to create. 

You'll also see Ronny's watch words "joy, peace, and love" painted on the house. Ronny's watch words appear on each of his works. See if you can find them.

Ronny's homage to the Old Bahama House will be on display at the Key West Custom House.

The Key West/Bahamas Connection

January 18 - April 7, 2019

Custom House Museum | Bryan Gallery

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