1122 Whitehead Street, Key West

1122 Whitehead Street, Key West has an interesting history in usage. The building was built in 1880 when it was the Jos. Reves Cigar Factory and numbered 129 Whitehead Street on the 1889 Historic Sanborn Fire Map. The street number 1122 Whitehead Street appeared on the 1912 Map. It was the same property but it was then designated as a dwelling. For years and years the property was a legal duplex. The property has been renovated twice in the past ten years. When it sold in 2014 it had been awarded a certificate for excellence in historic preservation by the Historic Florida Keys Foundation when it was still a legal duplex. The current owners converted the two story classic revival building into a single family home with the intention of making this their permanent residence. Along came a child and now another is on the way. Now this beautiful three bedroom, two bath home awaits its next owner.

The new owners added the new interior staircase shown above. Previously, the second floor was only accessible via exterior staircase. That staircase still exists and will be discussed later. The first floor is laid out in quadrants with the living room on the left (south) front and bedroom left rear. The dining area is in the left (north) front and the kitchen in the rear.

The house is in move-in ready condition. And it is beautiful in every detail, of which there are many details. Architectural plans have been drawn for the construction of a pool where the exterior staircase now exists.

The master bedroom with loft office occupies the south front side of the house. That room also has access to the second floor front porch. A new internal staircase leads up to the loft office. A second bedroom is located on the north front but it does not have access to the porch. The laundry room is located at the north rear while the second floor bath is at the south rear. It is such a bright and beautiful room. Both bedrooms share the use of the second floor rear deck that offers lots of space for getting a key west tan with no neighbors having a view.

While I couldn't find an historic photo of the house itself, I did find the above aerial photo taken of the area in 1999. The Douglas Pool is located one block west. South Beach is located five minutes away except when the corner of South Street is clogged by people taking selfies. Ft Zach is ten minutes by bike. Thanks to the Saudis you must use the Southard Street entrance to go to Ft Zach. In 1999 you could ride your bike on the first straight road and be there in two or three minutes. A lot of things have changed since 1999.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet for 1122 Whitehead Street and then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to arrange a showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. This home has a lot of potential and is well worth looking at.

2907 Seidenberg Avenue, Key West

Just Listed, but not by me, 2907 Seidenberg Avenue in sunny Key West, Florida.  I got to see this home a couple of days during Realtor caravan and immediately asked the listing agent for permission to blog about it. This home was built in 1958 and has 1963 square feet of living space under air conditioning and a pool plus a guest cottage. What separates this house from so many other mid-century homes in Key West is the thoughtful real-life livability of this house coupled with the incredible rear outdoor living area and pool. 

When you enter this home it feels like a brand new house as opposed to a house that is half a century old that has a new kitchen or baths or both. The ceiling in the open concept living area was vaulted. Then my eyes were drawn past the kitchen where French doors opened to the water feature. I knew this house was going to be different.

The four bedrooms and four bathrooms share similar features yet each is distinct. Unlike to many houses of this era, these bedrooms are large offer more space for the way we live today. Each bathroom has new fixtures and tiles. While I am a fan of those cute mid-century tile bathrooms, this house is on point with current styling. You will notice contemporary baseboards and trim throughout the house. Even the closets are lighted and prepped for storage. And ceilings were vaulted as allowed.

The 49 foot pool includes side "benches" for chilling while others swim. It is genuinely inviting. The new Trex deck wraps the pool and joins the main house with the guest cottage that offers self-sufficient living space for the guest who refuses to go back up north where he or she belongs.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and lots of listing photos of 2907 Seidenberg Avenue. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing of this contemporary revival of a mid-century home. I am buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. I think you will really like this home. I did.

And no that is not me in drag. I detest drag.

1434 Virginia Street, Key West - Short Sale

If you are a long time reader of my blog you may recall that I wrote 1434 Virginia Street, Key West in 2015 when it was offered for sale as bank owned property. The property was purchased but not renovated and sits in the same basic condition as previously reported except that two of the large trees on the east side of the lot are now gone. I am copying my older blog to share the photos and descriptions of the house, rooms, configuration, and condition. Just imagine fewer trees.

It looked to me that the house had been divided into five apartments over the years. The entrances are located at the front, west, and east side of  the house. Three apartments are on the main floor and two on the second floor. Each second floor apartment has an interior stairway with access to the third floor. A talented designer or architect ought to be able develop a design equal to the view. Whatever charm the original house had has been lost due to the fragmentation of the interior space. Let's look at the house the way it exists today.

Each unit has a separate kitchen and bath. The bathroom in this unit is located in what would have been the original hallway. This unit has a sleeping "loft" but the other apartments have separate bedrooms. The view looks directly across the street to Bayview Park.

The door at the far end of the second floor front apartment opens out to the second floor front porch that spans the width of the house. You can see most of Bayview Park from this vantage point. Bayview is the main city park in Key West. There are tennis courts, a baseball field, and an old fashioned pavilion at the east end. A Viet Nam War Memorial was added a couple of years ago.
 The Key West police department building and a fire station are located on the far side of the water and trees in the color photo (two above).  I searched the Sanborn Fire Maps to try to determine when this house was actually built and learned that the road and land immediately adjacent to the park was once identified as North Beach Road and that there was a small body of water in that location. That area was later filled and and developed. When I was taking photos I imagined what a sight the owner must have had back in the day before developers had their way. Then I discovered the black and white photo above which was taken in 1900. I added a notation showing what I believe to be 1434 Virginia Street as it was and still is the largest structure in this area.

I found a photo of the old "bathing pool"* or swimming hole located at what is now near the corner of Truman Avenue and Eisenhower Boulevard (previously North Beach Road). North Beach actually was a beach. Developers got the land and put up condos (don't they always!). The historic Division Street (later named Truman Avenue) was extended over the water and became North Roosevelt Boulevard. By 1999 the city added the police and fire station just east of Bayview Park. The section of North Beach Road was then called Pearl Street. The photo above shows the roofs of two large buildings at Horace O'Bryant Middle School. Those buildings are no more and have been replaced with even larger structures. The park still stands amid all the development that has taken place around it in the near 80 years since the kids jumped into the old swimming hole.  wish I could have seen this sweet town back then.

Over the years some prior owner of this property put a rear addition on to the house. Eventually the space extended out past the east side of the house and made this building exceedingly large. There is a roof top deck accessed via two small doors in the attic or loft space off the rear. A wood stairway leads down to the ground three stories below. While the view is pretty incredible, I really think a new owner might take down the entire rear addition. The house is huge without it. This would be the perfect space for a new pool, deck, and garden which could wrap around the rear and east side of the property. Sometimes less is more. This is one of those times.

The middle apartment abuts the front apartment with "loft" sleeping area. There is a warren of rooms on both floors. A renovation of these disconnected rooms could invigorate this old home and give it new purpose. The lot is very large for the Old Town area - 51' X 82' or 4149 sq ft.  Key West has several talented architects and competent builders that know how to fix old houses like this. I think the renovation of this old place could result in a really interesting home with incredible lasting views.
CLICK HERE to view more photos I took of this property. 

1434 Virginia Street is offered for sale as a short sale at $450,000. CLICK HERE view the Key West mls datasheet. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing of this property. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

 * Photo The swimming hole in Garrison Bight C 1940s. From the Louise White Collection