621 Catholic Lane, Key West ~ Charming Wooden Cottage with an Historic Past

Just Listed 621 Catholic Lane, a charming wooden cottage located near the "dead end" of one of the slowest lanes in Key West. The lane is entered off Angela Street, itself a one-way street from heading west from Frances Street to Margaret abutting the Key West cemetery to the south.

This simple home was once owned by author Evan Rhodes (The Prince of Central Park among others). I found a photo of Rhodes and other Key West writers taken at Higgs Beach in 1984, the first year I came to this island that would become my home. I borrowed the photo from the Key West Literary Seminar.

From top left: James Merrill, Evan Rhodes, Edward Hower, Alison Lurie, Shel Silverstein, Bill Manville, Joseph Lash, Arnold Sundgaard, John Williams, Richard Wilbur, Jim Boatwright. From bottom left: Susan Nadler, Thomas McGuane, William Wright, John Ciardi, David Kaufelt, Philip Caputo, Philip Burton, John Malcolm Brinnin.

Of this photo Arlo Haskle wrote:

"How many words is a picture worth if its subjects have penned more than many thousands of bestselling words apiece, already read by tens of thousands of readers? If in their beach bags are five Pulitzer Prizes, a few National Book Awards, two Bollingen Prizes, and office stationery from the U.S. Poet Laureate?"

In researching this house I found reference that Rhodes "finds he writes best in the garden of his house, wearing a bathing suit." As I was taking photos yesterday, I figured out why that was. The house does not have central air. The current owner relies on natural cooling (doors opened for cross ventilation). The heat yesterday was sweltering. The shade under the large canopy trees in the garden would provide cool relief for anyone be they a writer or not.

I have sold the homes of two famous writers, John Hersey (Hiroshima, A Bell for Adano) at the Key West Writer's Compound and James Leo Herlihy (The Midnight Cowboy) on Bakers Lane. There is something different yet common about homes where writers lived - they are set apart from the rest of the world and they are simple homes with quiet spaces where they can reflect and create. Tourists won't likely find this house, there isn't even a street sign to identify its existence. 

I found the above photo of 621 Catholic Lane which was taken a little over 50 years ago. The home sits high above the ground. The four front posts supporting the roof and the louvered door and windows and been replaced. The old aluminum awing was taken down. New thinner posts with balustrade were added as were pediments above the windows. The most striking feature is the bougainvillea hedge that insulates the house from public view. A new owner might consider taking that down to reveal how striking a home this place is.

The front door opens into a warm and inviting center hall that leads to the great room at the rear, the office to the left, and the master bedroom to the right. Dade County Pine and newer wood are evident throughout the house. While the house has been updated, the character of the original house still remains.

The great room has this big vaulted ceiling which adds so much dimension to this living space. The rear opens out to covered porches on either side which expand the living are greatly.

The first room I went into after I entered the house was the office. What an interesting place this is. Even though Mr. Rhodes preferred the outdoors, I could imagine this space to be a great place to read or write the next Great American Novel.

French doors open out from the ground floor master bedroom onto the front porch. Another set of louvered doors provide privacy from street view although I don't think anyone could see through the dense bougainvillea even if they tried.  Still it's nice to have the privacy in this little cocoon of a bedroom. The bath is located behind the closed door.

I assume a prior owner converted the attic space into a second floor bedroom and bath. A skylight floods the stairway with light and also introduces light to the great room below. A dormer was also added as were two rear second floor balconies. Our Historic Architectural Review Commission might not not allow a skylight or a dormer to be installed today. (They don't allow a lot of things that made Key West so eclectic and so interesting.) I snapped a photo of the guest cottage of the house next door. The views from the balcony are really sweet. Once you see this home, you'll understand why people choose places like this live. They are charming, quiet, and cozy.

621 Catholic Lane first appeared on the Historic Sanborn Fire Map of 1889. The house was not given a street numerator until 1912 when the street was still known as Fiat Ct. I was not able to find out when the street name was changed to Catholic Lane. Today there is not even a street sign to let passers-by that the street even has a name.

The house has 1542 sq ft interior living space under interior roof plus substantial covered outdoor space in front and rear. The current owner told me a previous owner added the rear porch. Most of the renovations look to have been added sometime after 1984 when Evan Rhodes sold the home to the prior owner. A new owner could leave this home as is and move in the day after closing. Or maybe a new owner might do something to recreate the interiors and re-work the back porch. I think this space could be magical. The lot measures 50.25' X 94.25' (4736 sq ft) which is quite large for Old Town. Much of rear lot is covered with brick. But it is the huge canopy tree with abundant shades that makes this space so interesting. A new owner might be able to obtain permission to add a pool. CLICK HERE to view more photos of the house and this pretty lane. You really need to look at these photos.

Located across Catholic Lane

621 Catholic Lane is offered for sale at $950,000 by Preferred Properties, that's where I work but this is not my listing. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this home. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to set up a private showing of this special home. I am a buyers agent and full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

There is No More Officer Goody

Just about a year ago this week I traveled back to Denver to attend my 50th high school reunion. Earlier in the day I went to what used to be Mountain View Elementary School located in the little town where my view of the world was born.  I attended school there from pre-school through sixth grade. My first grade class was the first to use the newly built addition to the right of the original red brick school house. I was a member of the baby boomer generation, but we wouldn't know about that then. Millions of us were born after World War II. We were the progeny of what Tom Brokaw calls the The Greatest Generation. The world would be our oyster.

As the population of Mountain View grew older and the number of school age children declined, my old school was sold to a private company which now operates it as the Re-Create Academy. She young Latino manager allowed me to wander through the school to try to find my past. I took a lot of photos and tried to recalled the teachers, kids, and events from over sixty years ago. I wrote an earlier blog about my lying to my kindergarten teacher, Miss Godley. That was her real name and it fit her perfectly. She was such a kind and gentle person. She knew and I knew that I misbehaved and that I lied to her. The morning after my transgression she told the class someone in the class had misbehaved but she did not say who. I looked around with the other kids as we all tried to figure out who the bad boy or bad girl was. What a little imp I was. But she never told anybody in my class. She made me live with my shame for sixty-plus years.

I went from classroom to classroom taking photos as I tried to recall the names of each teacher. That did not happen and much of my memory is gone forevermore. But when I reached the cafeteria-auditorium my brain went into overdrive. I won't bother you with those stories but one stands out which is why I am writing today's blog.

The floors and the chairs in the cafeteria are new but the memories of mystery meat lunches, school plays, assemblies, Cub Scout Troop meetings, and so on will last forever including the time we got to meet Office Goody.

One day a policeman named Officer Goody came to our school to meet the kids. Now I don't know if that was his real name or not, but I will never-ever forget his name or the kind manner he had with us children. I knew that if ever I needed help that he or some other nice policeman like him would be there to help me. I seriously doubt he had a gun or even a baton. All I remember is his kind demeanor and his name.

I moved away from my little town which was only two blocks long and six blocks wide. We moved to Lakewood located about two or three miles away. Lakewood was not an incorporated city then. We relied on Jefferson County Sheriff officers if we needed a police. But we didn't need them because we didn't have crime. Ours was a homogeneous community of white people. There were restricted areas which did not allow people of color to live. I mention this because as a child I knew I only knew white people. I did not know there were laws to keep non-whites from living where we lived. Denver also had areas where homosexual couples could not live. Even as a young adult lawyer I could not buy a house in the southeast Denver neighborhood called Crestmoor.  I made an offer on a house on the street below which I visited on my trip last year. I remember my real estate agent telling me I could not buy there. I did not get the house. I visited the Crestmoor area on my trip last year and wondered what my life might have been like had I lived on that house and on that street. Those restrictive housing rules were struck down years ago. But I can tell you they still exist in the minds of many.

In college I participated in peace marches and civil right marches. In October 1968 I went to the state capitol to take movies of George Wallace who was running for President. People started getting riled up over Wallace's comments and skirmishes erupted. There wasn't any violence, but hotheads were being hotheads. The cops responded with force. I started to take movies and a cop came right at me and ordered me to stop filming. I did. I was no hero. I was a spineless wimp. In August I attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.  I went to the Conrad Hilton Hotel on the night of the police riot looking for my friend Annette. I could smell tear gas and vomit for a couple of blocks before I got to the hotel. And when I arrived I saw kids my age walking around with blood soaked bandages on their heads. This was my wake-up call that there were no more Officer Goody's left in this world. Certainly none in Chicago.

Kent State happened two years later. National guardsmen shot and killed four unarmed college students and wounded nine others. LAW AND ORDER became the mantra. Politicians seized on the need to restore law and order. Lines were drawn. People that play by the rules have nothing to fear. Those that don't do.

 I was in my first year of law school when Kent State occurred. I think most people of my generation were outraged over our government taking aim at and killing innocent people. Some dimwit at Colorado State University (my undergraduate school) burned down Old Main - presumably to protest Kent State. That was forty-six years ago. I have learned that the world is full of dimwits. They come in all colors and have all kinds of crazy ideas about world order. I am weary of anybody who professes to know everything and knows how to fix anything. These people are dangerous whether they are on center stage or are lurking in the background.

I woke up this morning and watched the news. Combat Police dressed like those pictured above were charging at a group of protesters upset with the slew of police shootings of black people. Is there no wonder that our character as a people has changed? Those cops would scare anybody. That's why they are dressed like that.

I know we can't and won't go back to the time when cops looked like this Norman Rockwell policeman. But that should not stop us from trying. What you see is what you get.

862 Loggerhead Lane, Sugarloaf Key Florida - Bank Owned

Rest Beach - Key West Florida - 1937 - Before Everything Got Perfect

Sometimes when I go through my old shoebox looking for photos to put in my blog, I see pictures of the way life used to be in Key West and environs and I wish that I could go back to those simpler times. The above photo was taken at Rest Beach in 1937. This was in the Great Depression when life was hell for most Americans. But still on that day and at that location life was wonderful. It still is in Key West and our nearby islands.

I often write about the slow lanes of Key West. Well, I found a real slow and quite friendly lane not too far from here. If you are a buyer who is looking for an affordable home located near Key West, this Bank Owned three bedroom two bath house located at 862 Loggerhead Lane on Sugarloaf Key may be the place you have been hoping to find. This is a stilt house meaning it is built on concrete piers. The home has 1285 sq ft of interior living space plus a very large second floor rear porch overlooking the canal below. Read on my friends because there is more here than you might imagine.

I took a photo of the house across the street from 862 Loggerhead Lane which sits on a larger lot and is obviously a more impressive home. It shares the same location and has the same soil and sunshine. The other houses on this lane are mix of smaller homes like today's offering and others just about as nice as the house above. I missed 862 and drove to the end of the lane. The owners of one house were exiting their front door and waived at me as I drove by. When I headed back they waived again. I thought to myself how great a little lane this is. When I arrived back at 862 and saw the house across the street I immediately recognized that this place has a lot of potential.

I walked up the exterior staircase and entered into the living room. It looks to be freshly painted as do most of the other rooms in this house. There is a door that opens out to the second floor deck. The kitchen and dining room are located opposite. Then I noticed a bank of windows looking east and saw the home across the street. I thought to myself this home has potential!

There are three bedrooms and two baths in this home. The master bedroom with en suite bath are located at the far side of the house. The two guest bedrooms are located just off the living room separated by a center hall where the guest bath and laundry are located. It wasn't until I got back to my house and started to write about today's blog that I realized the Key West mls datasheet (below) may be in correct as to the physical size of this house. That potential error, if it is an error, is because the data on this house and all others is automatically populated from the Monroe County Property Appraiser records which show this house as being 1285 sq ft. The typical stilt built home like this is 1200 sq ft. But this home has three bedrooms and is much larger than that. Many homes built in the same era as this (1988) have front, side,and rear porches with access doors so that homeowners can walk on the decks to install shutters in the event of a storm. But this house has only the rear deck..

The property appraiser website shows a building permit was issued in 1994 to "enclose porch". I think the front porch was totally enclosed and that the side porch became an addition. I checked the prior mls listings which showed this house as being 1389 and 1581 sq ft. The correct size will be determined when this home is appraised for a new mortgage.  But it will have an impact on what you will have to pay when you make an offer. The home is listed at 1285 sq ft which equates to $2800 per sq ft. If the house is actually 1581 sq ft the price per sq ft would amount to $227 per sq ft.

There's more good news! The roof was replaced within the last two months. There is new carpeting in the bedrooms. This pretty much makes this home move-in ready. You're gonna need to buy a refrigerator, washer, and dryer. Otherwise, bring your toothbrushes and start to create your new home on this lovely lane.

862 Loggerhead Lane is located about 20 miles (25 minutes) from Old Town. The Sugarloaf schools are located on Crane Boulevard which happens to be the main road that leads to to this house. Your kids could walk to school in about ten minutes or so. If they walk. CLICK HERE to view more photos of this house and the school.

Borrowed from an earlier listing of this home. This shows the boat hoisted - waiting like a dog to be taken for a walk. This could be your house and that could be your boat waiting to go out to the sea.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on 862 Loggerhead Lane located on Sugarloaf Key, Florida. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to set up a personal showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. This house is worth looking at!

Key West Horror Story No. 4 - Once Removed

Long before I moved to Key West I did commercial loan workouts in for a bank in Denver. My job was to recover money from borrowers who lost their way in life and who refused to give back the money that they borrowed. This was at a time when character still mattered and failure to repay a debt went down on one's permanent record. My job entailed the management of outside bank litigation, foreclosures, recoveries of all types, and the sale and disposition of real estate acquired through foreclosure. Recovered assets were classified as OREO (other real estate owned) by our bank. Some banks refer to these assets as REO for real estate owned.

Another asset manager in my department had started to foreclose a town home in Aurora located near the Cherry Creek Reservoir. For some reason I never understood, he initiated the legal process to foreclose but them abruptly stopped. After he left the bank, I inherited some of his problem loans including this one.

I reviewed the file and assumed this unit must have been abandoned by the owner after the foreclosure was filed. I drove to the property to verify my suspicions.  I went around back and looked through sliding glass doors and saw the place was fully furnished. I saw dog moving about inside. I went back to my office and verified with the Public Service Company (the electric utility company) that service was terminated a year earlier. I called the condo association and learned that water had been shut off a year earlier for non-payment of association fees. I contacted outside counsel and got myself appointed  a receiver to preserve the property during the foreclosure process.

With court order in hand I went back to the property a few days later and met a locksmith who got me inside. A cat disappeared from view as soon as we entered the house. The dog I saw on my earlier inspection was not to be seen. But evidence of the dog's existence was everywhere as there was dog poop on all three floors of the condo. There was dog poop and urine smell everywhere--even on the walls where the dog did his business. The house reeked! The smell was overwhelming.

But the place did not seem to be totally abandoned. The house was fully furnished.  There was a baby grand piano in the living room. The dining room had a formal dining room table, chairs, and breakfront. There were three fully furnished bedrooms. There were pots and pans in the kitchen and clothes in all of the closets. There were remnants of burnt candles all over the place with candle wax on tabletops. The place had a really creepy feel about it. It was as if the house was the setting for some graphic horror novel.  Empty plastic milk cartons littered the house. I assumed the owner brought water in for the pets. I could not imagine humans living in such filth. And there were family photos of the people who lived in this house. The woman was head of Colorado Right to Life at that time. I will never forget that. Never!


I went upstairs and found what I thought was a pool of dried blood in one of the second floor baths. I left the house and called the police. (This was over thirty years ago - long before we had cell phones.) The police came over right away. They quickly determined what I saw was not blood but rather feces and urine from the commode that leaked out onto the floor.. One of the officers refused to go into the basement. There was so much feces on the floor that it was disgusting beyond your wildest imagination. Stephen King could not have written a more horrific tale of a foreclosure from hell. In fact I named the "asset" Cujo OREO because if reminded me of Stephen King's novel about the dog from hell. Foreclosures are our bank were always named for the owner of the foreclosed property.

I called animal control. They captured the cat and took it away. The dog was never found. 

I hired contractors to take out all of the filth and put the place in saleable condition. They had to haul out all of the personal contents. The Salvation Army refused to take most of the furniture and personal property because of the smell. I guess the contractors took most of the stuff to the dump. I remember them telling me they had to wear masks while removing the personal property and while ripping out the interiors. They had to tear out the bottom four feet of drywall throughout the unit to get rid of the urine. The urine had penetrated the floors so badly that the floors needed to be removed down to the floor joists.

They replaced the floors, drywall, and most if not all of the cabinets, appliances, and plumbing fixtures. The place was painted and put in saleable condition.

This was the very worst foreclosure I ever encountered. But I have seen a lot of them over the years. A lot of people who lose their homes destroy the house as they walk out the door. They blame other people for what happened to them.  I could blame the dog for all of the poop and pee. I could. But I won't.