Old Island Restoration Foundation House Tour MARCH 14th & 15th, 2014, 10am – 4pm

THE OLD FAMILY HOME – Life and Work in Key West

Houses, small and large, sheltered generations of those carving out a life on this rock island.  They also were places of business or investments…not unlike today.  Into the five old abodes in the Historic District, extensive renovations breathed new life, allowing them to continue useful existence for current and future residents.

The tour is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15, from 10 am  to 4 pm.  Tickets are $ 30 and are available in advance.  For credit card purchase, buy tickets online at www.oirf.org or call 305-294-9501.  Tickets are also available for purchase by check or cash at:  Capital Bank, (Old Town & North Roosevelt Branches in Key West; MM30.4, Big Pine; 2348 Overseas Highway, Marathon); and Royal Furniture (3326 N. Roosevelt Blvd.).  During tour hours, tickets will be sold at the featured houses – cash or check, please.

Featured Houses:

320 Peacon Lane

Among the City’s early families were the Peacons, who first settled in a tiny Bahamian cottage that dates to right after the 1846 hurricane; they stayed through 4 generations. The family business of selling groceries began here.  Their home is still at the core of this delightful spread of additions and gardens.  Two “Ceramic Stars” speak to the care put into its preservation.

712 Eaton Street

By 1897, Richard Peacon, Jr., who had been born at 320 Peacon Lane, had expanded his grocery business to become a prosperous merchant.  He built this house up the hill from his roots.  It’s known by its distinctive and rare “octagon” front.  The house was renovated in the 1975 for interior designer, Angelo Donghia, and later owned by Calvin Klein.

1112 Elgin Lane

On the east end of town around the turn of the 20th Century, a family of spongers built their cottages near their boats; the water’s edge was closer than now.  Descendants kept the old family home until 1993.  An extensive renovation completed by the second (and current) owners gives respectful nods to those nautical predecessors and earn a Ceramic Star in 1996.

1212 Georgia Street

A grocer set up shop next to his “country” home near bustling cigar factories and other businesses as the City expanded.  A prominent lawyer added his home office some seventy years later.  A portion of the simplified gothic-style house’s wrap-around porch survived two relocations, later additions and a just-completed rehabilitation.  Dolphins carved from tree stumps mark its location.

703 Elizabeth Street

Real estate investing is nothing new; rental properties have long-existed in town.  This conch cottage near the top of Solares Hill is one of many houses built over the decades for tenant occupancy by those eking out a living.  A family of Cuban cigar makers lived and worked here early on.  A total renovation has opened and refreshed spaces where they toiled, but the compact house could still shelter a family in its three bedrooms.

If other St. Patrick’s weekend activities interfere, remember you are welcome to split your visits over two days and see the homes in any order.

OIRF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of architectural treasures in the City of Key West and the celebration, honor, and recognition of the historical achievements of the Island.  Funds raised from the tours will be used to maintain the Oldest House, for the Foundation’s grants program, scholarships and other endeavors furthering our preservation goals.

(Sponsored in part by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.)