The New Key West Fire Department is Finally Complete - The Torture is Over!

It's over!  Thank God, it's over! I won't have to deal with big burly guys pushing me around anymore. I won't have to endure being bullied and having to walk a couple blocks out to way to go to my office. They didn't demand my lunch money - no they just made life a living hell for the last year. They blocked the little lane that leads to the parking lot behind my office. They erected barriers and diverted traffic so that I could not get into my parking lot. For several weeks I didn't know which street to take to work. I had to call a friend at local hotel to ask if I could park there. And when I could park in our lot, my car got thoroughly dusted with this mixture of concrete and dust that mixed with the moisture in the air to create a tough coat of goo to cover my car.   Local politicians do what all politicians do - they invited photographers over to the construction site, smiled for the cameras, and took credit for the new fire station that was built to replace the old one.

For many, many years the old fire station was also the police station and city hall for Key West. The building located at the corners of Simonton and Angela Street was built in the 1950s and worked just fine for decades. But as the City of Key West prospered and as local government grew (governments always grow - they never contract!), the governing officials decided they needed to build more buildings to house the bulging bureaucracy.  Several years ago the police department was relocated to North Roosevelt Boulevard. And after years of debating, a new city hall is being constructed inside the walls of the former Key West high school at the corners of White and United Streets. I'll write about that some day soon. But for now I'd like to share some photos that show the history of the old building and the new one.

The aerial photo above show the former city hall, police station, and fire department located at the corner of Simonton and Angela Streets. The two story parking garage and city hall annex are located adjacent to the north. The phone company building is at the corner of Simonton at Southard.

The above photo shows the building in 1962.  There were two bays for fire department vehicles. The police department entrance was at the rear. City hall entrance was at the Angela Street doorway.

The above photo shows the back side of the building in 1965.  The parking garage had not been built yet. The city hall annex is to the left. The larger building at the rear is the phone company building.

The decidedly ugly city parking structure is shown above. City fathers tore down this eyesore several years ago. Later the city hall annex seen to the right was taken down. The photo below shows the demolition of that building in August 2011. For readers who care about governmental efficiency, please note that the current batch of city fathers are now considering tearing up the newly built parking lot to build a new parking garage where the old one once existed. I think this is how politicians work in most places. It's probably not something specific to Key West. Of course, if they had to build buildings with their own money, other decisions might be made.

The big trucks and construction equipment moved into my neighborhood in March 2014. I took this photo from the back door at Preferred Properties parking lot looking to the south. The old fire station remained active in place while the construction of the new building took place. Within a matter of a couple of weeks pre-stressed concrete slabs were put together like LEGO blocks. However, it took months of work by various trades to complete the mechanical, electrical, HVAC, roof, and interiors.

I walked over to take photos of the project last August 13th. The old fire station was still in use. As I passed by I looked over to the picnic table where fireman sometimes sat to eat lunch and noticed this bent over figure which I first though was a fireman.

I looked closer. I laughed out loud. Even the firemen were exhausted by all the commotion.

If you are familiar with the location, you know that this particular corner floods like crazy every time there is a rain storm in Key West. City fathers (the city dollars) have tried to fix the flooding at various times over the years. Part of the redevelopment of this site included new sewer and water service and a new attempt to take storm runoff water away from the site. The one storm I witnessed moved the water from the intersection about forty feet west - just about where the yellow vehicle is shown above or in front of the entrance to the Garden Hotel.

It took about three weeks to bring down the old fire station. She was a tough old broad to be sure. As she finally succumbed to the heavy equipment the visage of the new building began to emerge. Of course I could "see" the building but I was trying to figure out what it would actually look like. Now I had given a brief glance to the plans as they appeared in the paper. That was useless. I needed to look at it myself. 

The parking lot was paved. Sprinkler systems and light poles were installed throughout the space. Palm trees and ground cover appeared like magic. One day the place was barren. A couple of days later it was like Samatha Stevens had twitched her nose to dumbfound Mrs. Kravitz. CLICK HERE to see more photos I took and some that I borrowed of our old city hall, police station, and fire station and of our new Old Town Fire House.

I live a couple of blocks away from the new city hall is being built.  It's gonna be like Déjà vu all over again.

1107 Olivia Street, Key West - an Old Town Buy!

Just Listed, but not by me, 1107 Olivia Street in Key West, Florida. This Old Town cottage was restored a few years back and looks great. The house was totally renovated in 2008 giving the interior and the outside a new lease on life. The house first appeared on the Historic Sanborn Fire Map dated 1899.  Other houses were in this block before that date, but they were numbered differently.  I cannot determine if this house was built before 1899, but I am sure that it existed as of that date. I found a photo of the house taken fifty years ago. The facade looks pretty much today like it looked in 1965. There is room on the front porch for people watching as they ride their bikes down Olivia Street which is a one-way street that runs west to east through Old Town.

The ground floor and second floor look entirely different today than they did when this house was built, of that I am certain. The front door opens into a center hall that expands as you walk into the house. The living room is located to the right while the kitchen and dining area are at the left. The ceiling is vaulted and gives the living area as a whole a much more expansive feel.

The house is presently furnished with several pieces of quite large furniture. There are two sets of French doors that lead out to the pool at the rear. There is a huge TV cabinet the hides one of the French doors. I think the space will both look larger and function better when it is furnished with more contemporary furniture.

This house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. This home has a bedroom and bath located at the front of the house. Pocket doors open off the front hall to reveal the bedroom on one side while the bathroom (and laundry) are on the opposite side. The second bedroom and bath have an unconventional floor plan that is more "loft like". A door opens from the second floor bedroom out to the rooftop deck. This is a bonus space for total privacy when sunbathing au natural.

1107 Olivia Street is located one half block east of the Key West Cemetery. CLICK MAP to see location. Duval Street is a five to seven minute stroll. The shops, restaurants, galleries, gyms and assorted local businesses in the Truman and White arts district are just five minuets away. The Historic Key West Seaport can also within an easy walking distance. A full time homeowner or a tourist in town for a few days often measure the convenience of a property by how long it takes to get to a particular destination.

The property does not have off street parking. However, there is an abundance of off street parking nearby. I don't see that parking would be an issue for a full time owner. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this property.

If you would like to see 1107 Olivia Street, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc.  Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

527 Margaret Street - Key West - An Old House Made New

The paint is barely dry in the newly rebuilt home at 527 Margaret Street in Old Town Key West. I got a chance to meet the new owners, Kirk Thompson and Brett Burch, this past week. The owners explained to me that they were visiting Key West in January when the passed by the house which was then still under construction. The builders (Paul Misch and his son-n-law John Tutlewski) invited Brett and Kirk inside to see what was being done. They liked what they saw so much that they signed a contract to buy the place before it was complete. That gave them time to enlist their friend and decorator  Dale Trice of Design Services of Florida to add special touches that would make this their Key West dream home. It worked!

If you are a long time reader of my blog you may recall seeing 527 Margaret Street mentioned here on a couple of occasions when it was previously listed for sale. A prior owner had created three living units in what was supposed to be a single family home. The house had a warren of rooms and elevations that defied logic. Earlier this year I included this house as being one of the current "Projects of Key West" where I included a couple of photos of the original house as photographed in 1965, mls photos when offered for sale, and more recent photos showing the demolition of most of the original house and framing of the new abode. 

The dark framing timbers at the front and sides are all that remain of the original house.

The front facade has traditional wood lap siding and period correct windows. The sides and rear have Hardiboard siding and wind impact resistant windows and doors.

The front door opens into a center hallway that leads past the two bedrooms with en-suite baths into the great room at the rear. I could not help but stop to take a look at each bedroom and bath before I made my way to the living area. The interior trim work was impeccable. The white gloss trim contrasted against the almost pastel blue in the north bedroom and it popped in the master bedroom with its navy blue walls.

The north bedroom has a sleeping loft (not visible in these photos). The bathroom mirror is framed by dozens of shells. Shells are a recurring decorative theme used throughout this home.

There is a guest bath located off the center hall adjacent to the adult beverage center with color co-ordinated booze. The laundry area is opposite. It was the great room at the rear that totally surprised me. When I saw the house from the street I assumed it was a bit smallish and unpretentious. The great room has a wall of windows that soars to the top of the vaulted ceiling. The first thing I saw was the canopy of the old banyan tree at the rear. The blue sky seemed to mesh with the subtle and not-so-subtle blue tones interspersed in this space.  The wood ceiling and white washed wood floors add a natural color perspective to this living space.

Dale Trice designed the media and display wall with storage below. Giant shells and white objets d'art fill that space and are interspersed throughout the room. The setting is like something out of Coastal Living Magazine or Architectural Digest. Maybe it should be! CLICK HERE to see more photos of the original house and the newly rebuilt house.

 I took the photo immediately above last October as the tree trimmer was removing part of the old growth from the banyan tree that dominated the back yard at 527 Margaret Street. That was the beginning of the rebuilding process. The old banyan tree still reigns over the north side of the property at the rear, but there is now a navy blue pool at the south side. The old house has been made new. The natural earth tones, shades of blue, and crisp white blend together in harmony. The bougainvillaea at the front still reigns supreme and provides a nice cover for sitting behind to people watch. This is truly a home worth seeing.  Well done Kirk, Brett, Dale, Paul, and John.

Be Careful Who You Trust with Access to Your Home in Key West

I love living in Key West. You can be who you want to be and love who you want to love. Nobody cares what you do or who you sleep with other than the guy who parades around town with his anti-fags sign. Gays and straights and rich and the not-so-not rich mix at work and at play with ease. We have a lot of people that have moved here from all over the world. There are good people and some that are not so good. The bad people sometimes give the rest of us a bad name.
I recall an evening a couple of years ago when  a couple who I had recently sold a house to called me. They told me they a nephew drove a new car they purchased for their Key West down here from their home up north. He had parked under their carport and went back home. 

They said a week later they were contacted by the Key West police. Their new Key West car had been involved in a hit and run accident after the nephew had returned to his home. Someone had got inside their house, found the keys, and drove the car more than a mile away to get involved in an accident. The car was returned to the covered parking space where it belonged.

I asked the obvious question: who had keys to the car?  The couple did not know. They said the lady's Key West hair dresser had recommended a painter who did some work inside the house for them had access to the keys to the house as did the pool service man. My mind raced back to several prior conversations I had with the lady where she related stories about the hair dresser who she adored.

My buyers asked me if I would go to their house and remove the key to the house that was supposed to be in a lock box near the front door. I immediately went there. As soon as I got to the place I inspected the car.  All four sides of the new car had damage. A chain had been wrapped through the trunk to keep the rear bumper from falling off. I took photos of the damage and then went to the lock box to remove the key. It was not there.

I got on my phone and called the owners. While we were talking I noticed a guy walking down the sidewalk and up to the house. He was in his 30s or 40s and had an open beer in his hand. He had that just-off-the-streets look that I am familiar with.  I checkout the Monroe County Sheriff's online crime page every morning. I see guys that look like this every day of my life either on the page or walking the streets of Key West. I asked the guy "Do you live here?" He replied "I'm doing work for the owners." I told him I was the owners' real estate agent and that they sent me to fetch the key. He reached in his pocket and decided he did not have the key. He said to wait a minute and then walked around the house to the rear. Several minutes elapsed. I knocked on the door. No answer. I talked with the owners who were now mildly distressed. The owner suggested that I go home. He said he would come down (from more than a thousand miles away) and sort things out. Then the guy opened the front door and said to come in. Although the house had been freshly painted and furnished, it reeked of cigarette smoke. The smell of recently over-fried hamburgers lingered in the air. Every light in the house was turned on. The volume on the TV was on full blast. It was obvious this guy had moved in-to stay.


I asked the guy "Do you know how the car got damaged?" to which he replied "No." He turned away and walked toward French doors that opened out to the pool. His  hands jerked up to his head. He grabbed his hair and ordered me to get out and said to come back in five minutes. He needed time to think.

I went back outside and spoke to the owners. I decided it was best for me to leave before this guy went completely insane. I had asked two questions in a calm and polite voice. I made no accusations or inferences in the tone or words. The guy, however, seemed over whelmed by the thought of having to leave his new house.

I think it is very important that new owners hire licensed and insured contractors and other business professionals who may access to the inside of their homes or access to a car. Most real estate companies offer once a week home inspections to make sure a Key West dream house is safe and secure. Like I said "There are good people and some that are not so good. The bad people sometimes give the rest of us a bad name."