832 Johnson Lane - Key West

I recently showed 832 Johnson Lane in Old Town Key West to some buyers who had expressed a willingness to buy a fixer-upper.  They were searching for a place they could buy for a reasonable price, do some renovations, maybe expand the existing size, add a pool, and end up with a dream cottage. Their primary concern for any house was price and location. The amount of work and potential cost of updating and expanding 832 Johnson Lane became their over-riding concern. The little cottage  was a bit more of a challenge than they imagined.  I saw the place differently.  The house is small and because of certain rules, a new owner probably cannot expand it too much. I think it is worthy of your consideration if you are a cash buyer and have the ability to see beyond what presently exists.  A buyer with an ability to do some of the renovations or who has additional cash for renovations ought to at least take a look.  You may be pleased.

Just below is a photo of 832 Johnson Lane that was taken in 1965.  I took the photo below it to show the same house nearly 50 years later.  Our HARC (Historical Architectural Review Commission) will need to approve changes to the building.  The existing house has just one bedroom and one bath.  The Monroe County Property Appraiser says the 527 sq ft house sits on a 2633 sq ft lot or 25' x 116'.  The house sits close to the front of the lot. A new owner could seek permission from HARC, our local Historical Architectural Review Commission to expand the size of the little house by adding to the rear. It appeared to me that the existing foundation is a bit dated. The existing piers may need rebuilt or replaced.  

832 Johnson Lane as it appeared in 1965

As we walked through the house I knew nothing on the inside was worth saving. The rooms are small and dysfunctional. They were built long ago for people who lived much differently than we live today. I didn't bother to take any photos because the interiors will be gutted and replaced by whoever buys this place. The cottage will need all new everything - water, sewer, electric service. It will need new wood windows, doors, and floors.  A new kitchen and bath(s) will replace what exists today. There is some Dade County Pine walls which ought to be preserved.

I consider the backyard as the most attractive feature of this home. The yard is 25' wide by 116' deep or 2633 sq ft. The back property line abuts the rear of a parking lot that belongs to a guest house on Truman Avenue.  I am making an assumption that a new owner may be able to obtain permission to use the parking lot for a limited time to add a pool and deliver building materials necessary to renovate the cottage. 

The above photo was taken from the back step of the house and looks south. There is no back porch.  I have added a graphic to show the lot line at the rear.  As you can see there is a lot of open space from the house to the rear lot line. The plumeria tree (some call it a Frangipani) is not protected. It can be removed to provide room for lot development such as adding a pool.

The above photos were taken from the rear lot line looking toward the house.  The small addition to the rear is bathroom. The original "out house" still sits exists on the property. The blue chair (two photos above) rests in the middle of the old outhouse. HARC and building rules may permit that space to be expanded into a cabana or other use.

The above photo shows the condition of the rear piers or foundation.  This is typical of many older homes in Key West that have not yet been renovated. Many of the lovely homes you see on the streets and lanes of Old Town used to look something like this. Some were much better to be sure, but others were worse.  Our local contractors are seasoned veterans when it comes to dealing with fixing old foundations which are essential to any good renovation.  Once the foundation is repaired, the creative part begins.

Johnson Lane is only one block long and runs parallel between Truman Avenue to the south and Olivia Street to the north. Entrances are located on Windsor Lane (that intersects at Truman Avenue) on the west and Margaret Street to the east.  The lane itself is a mix of very expensive town homes, some nicely updated homes, and a few little cottages like 832 Johnson Lane that await renovation.  Photos of the house next door and across the lane are shown below.

Next door

Across the lane

832 Johnson Lane is offered for sale at $580,000.   CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet for more information.

If you would like to see 832 Johnson Lane or any other 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.

Forget Christmas in Connecicut - Next Year it Will be Christmas in Key West - 1503 Washington Street - Key West

Shortly after I arrived at 1503 Washington Street to take photos for today's blog, I fell in love with this home and garden that was decorated to the nines to celebrate the Christmas season.  At first I wandered through the front, side, and rear yards checking out the gardens, fountains, ponds, and babbling brook that make this Key West home like no other. At the rear I spotted St Nick peeking inside the house alongside a 13 foot tall Christmas tree.  I took a peek as well and saw a home decked out for a Christmas party. I went inside and recognized this home was designed for both entertaining and easy family living.  When I saw the wraparound piano bar, I remembered a scene from my favorite Christmas movie - Christmas in Connecticut - where Barbara Stanwyck and her beau sang while she trimmed the Christmas tree.  I thought to myself about buyers who could choose between freezing their rears off in Connecticut or tanning their backsides in Key West.  Key West wins every time.

Barbara and her little stole have been replaced by a silent butler with fur wrap that sets the mood for Christmas cheer at 1503 Washington Street. The main level of this home includes the formal entry, the removable piano bar - living area, dining area, guest bath, kitchen, den, and informal dining area. The Connecticut home has a grand two story entry.  The Key West home has an equally impressive entry which features Brazilian walnut entry doors.

 

The den or family room opens into the informal dining area and kitchen.  These spaces are the way modern families live as opposed to boxed in spaces like we see the Connecticut home, grand as it was, it is a relic in time. The Key West home even has a modern day fireplace. Personally, I like the fireplace in the Connecticut house a bit more, but at least this home has fireplace. The Connecticut house has a bar whereas the Key West house has a wine storage closet. And the Key West home an outdoor kitchen - something unheard of in Connecticut in the wintertime.  Many homes in Key West have outdoor living spaces and kitchens.  This is how we live no matter the season. At Christmastime when our relatives up north are wearing sweaters and wraps and wallowing in the snow, we can go to the beach in the daytime and dine outside at night.  

 

The pool, gardens, and pond wrap the house like Christmas wrapping paper. Everything is tied up with a cute bow. This home has a carport that is currently used as a semi-office. The second and third photos below show the inside of the "carport".  (There is a second garage on the opposite side of the front.) You can hear the babbling brook through the louvers at the front of the enclosure. You would be amazed at this space. 

The second floor includes a large master suite at the rear, a guest bedroom, an office which could easily become a bedroom, guest bath, a library, a laundry room, an ironing room, and a library. You won't find many houses in Key West that have this much attention to detail as this home.

Real work gets done in the office at 1503 Washington Street. A buyer who wants a home office won't need to be too creative to move right in and set up shop.  Maybe mergers and acquisitions got done in Connecticut. I will bet people who live in the cold north will jump at the chance to move their home office to Key West.

CLICK HERE to view more photos of 1503 Washington Street.

1503 Washington Street is listed by Preferred Properties Key West. That is where I work but this is not my listing.  This home has 2845 sq ft of living space situated on a 4698 sq ft lot. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls data sheet on this home that is offered at $2,200,000.  Better than looking at photos, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a showing of this wonderful Key West property.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. If you buy this home, you will have a Key West home by Christmas next year.

1120 Curry Lane - Key West - Home Buy Christmas

I will bet you that a lot of potential house buyers who have been scouring the Key West Association of Realtors mls website have seen the listing at 1120 Curry Lane and have no idea where it is.  If you do a Google Search and see an aerial view you will quickly learn that it is located on a one-way lane that runs parallel between Fleming Street to the north and Southard Street to the south.  You enter from White Street - about 100 feet to east and exit at Frances Street at the west. Curry Lane truly is one of the slow lanes of Key West because so few people know where it is or have any reason to go there other than to go home.  That means is it quite. Some may think it is too far from Duval Street. Nay, I say. I think a normal person could walk to Duval in 8 to 10 minutes or be at the historic seaport in 7 minutes or so.  (There are normal people in Key West - sometimes it may not look like it, but there really are some.)

If you have been reading my blog in recent months I have taken to exploring the old Sanborn Fire Maps of Key West to determine the approximate date when an old house I write about was built. Most of our public records were destroyed in the great fire. Workers from the WPA during the Great Depression created new records but affixed an imprecise date during or near the Depression as to the date when a particular house was built. We all know government work sometimes is nonsensical.  The government says 1120 Curry Lane was built in 1930.  The house did not exist in the 1889 Sanborn Map but it was there in 1899. So the house was built during that time. See a photo of the house as it appeared nearly fifty years ago and compare it with a recent photo.

The white picket fence is gone as is the standard white on white paint job. But the main house is pretty much the same today on the outside as it probably was when built. The interiors, however, are different by a long shot and today there is a two story guest cottage and pool spa at the rear..Most of the interiors appear to have been updated in the past 15 to 20 years.  Please take a look at the photos below and image how you might give this old house a new look. Maybe you will agree with me that 1120 Curry Lane has some hidden potential.

The kitchen is probably going to be the space where most folks will socialize. The space is quite large and offers views of the rear deck and spa. The poo, however, is located behind the guest cottage to the rear.

There are two quite large bedrooms on the second floor. Each has direct access to a Jack and Jill bath.  If I owned this house I would use the front bedroom with loft as the master suite because it has a really nice second floor front porch to sit and watch pretty much nothing.  However, if you have little kids they would probably be pestering you all the time to use the loft area as a fort. I might even go up there myself and pretend.  Other than Fantasy Fest, do you ever pretend?  Ah, the things we forget how to do when we grow up.

The two story guest cottage is plenty fine as is, but I would love to see what a couple of gay decorators could do to this place. And I don't think it would take too much money to transform this place into something sensational.  This is the money space if you have any intentions of renting the property as a vacation rental because the pool with the magnificent canopy is right out the back door.

I took more photos which you can see if you CLICK HERE. Please take a look. You will see different views of the rooms and spaces.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls data sheet on this home which is offered at $1,200,000. The house has 1720 sq ft of living space in the two buildings. The lot is 36' x 102' or 3799 sq ft.

If you would like to see 1120 Curry Lane or any other 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. If you buy this property, you will have a home in Paradise by Christmas next year. The logo photo below was taken last year at 1112 Curry Lane.  This is a wonderful little lane in Old Town Key West.