There’s lots to love about the luxurious 3BR 4BA Villa Corazon … it even has a heart shaped pool!  Offering ultimate resort style living, this private home retreat is a perfect pairing of a Key West gingerbread cottage with an elegant free-standing cottage. A contemporary renovation of this historic property seamlessly joined two meticulously rebuilt dwellings with a sundeck and tropical pool-garden.

The interior is a love-in of classic Key West with island-cosmopolitan, a harmonious sweet spot between modern aesthetics and laid-back Caribbean. The designer did a beautiful job of combining Euro with isle-style furnishings. Original modern art completes the picture and carries a romantic sophisticated nautical ambience. Soaring ceilings tucked up to the roofline, 5-panel interior doors throughout, oversized showers with luxury fittings, top of the line appliances, all contribute to the high-end renovation that gives all the style and creature comforts you could want.

A Little Bit of Neighborhood History:

The neighborhood of Villa Corazon has a fascinating history. The house was originally built in 1910, when this section of Key West was ‘farm country.’ In the early 1900’s there were six dairy farms close by, and open land used for keeping transportation horses. There were orchards of sapodilla trees grown for sap which was used to make Chicklets Gum.

In 1923, one of the most prominent buildings on the island, now utilized as the Key West City Hall, was built across the street from Villa Corazon. But looking back, it’s noteworthy that the building was built in the 1920’s during racial segregation. During that time It was called the Frederick Douglass High School and originally used as a high school for the island’s black students. The student body identified themselves as the ‘Douglass Tigers,’ and proudly adopted the tiger as their mascot. Their welding teacher, George Carey, helped students build a larger-than-life metal mascot tiger sculpture for the front of the school.  

Over the years, the building was used as a middle school in the 1970’s and during the 1980’s until 2014, it was an elementary school. Well loved by Key West residents, the building needed major repair. In 2015, the City of Key West boldly committed $19 million to renovate the iconic building to become the Key West City Hall. If you’ve been to Key West, you’ve probably seen the landmark tiger sculpture at the front.

Today the neighborhood is an ideal place to live. Here you’re nestled on the cusp of the Casa Marina and White Street Gallery districts. The house is a 10-minute walk to beautiful Higgs Beach and the White Street Pier. It’s also just a few steps from White Street where you’ll find locals' favorite shopping and restaurants.

Start your day with Cuban Coffee from walk-up Sandy’s Café and pick up your groceries across the street at Faustos Fine Food Palace. A walk to Higgs Beach and Restaurant Salute and Bar, will undoubtedly become an afternoon ritual. Be sure to take time to visit the Pre-Civil War For West Martello Towers, which is now the Key West Garden Club. And if you want fine dining or cocktails overlooking the beach, Louie’s Back Yard is a little bit of heaven on the sea.

INTERIOR LAYOUT AND DÉCOR

We begin our tour of Villa Corazon at the storybook front porch entrance. The hip roof design, with classic tin tile, is a remarkable restoration of a vintage Key West-Bahamian cottage. Since the late 1800’s, outdoor front porches have been extensions of Key West living rooms - a place to ‘sit a spell,’ and chat with passersby. Stop for a moment and enjoy your private view of the butterfly garden across the street at the Key West City Hall building.

The front porch is set with two wooden rocking chairs. Carved gingerbread brackets add to the charm. Just below the roof peak, notice the stunning triangular stain-glass window. It features a bright red fleur de lis – an artistic hint of the luxury, perfection, and light you’ll find throughout the property.

The Villa Corazon monthly rental is decorated throughout in shades of white, silvery sand tones, and accents of blue. A variety of exotic hardwood and tile flooring creates a unique ambience in every room. Upscale furnishings feature tropical textures of seagrass, wicker, bamboo, and mango wood. The designer selected a variety of Caribbean and nautical themed artwork. Throughout the house you’ll enjoy fine art pieces depicting Key West’s sailing culture, the island’s fantasy with mermaids, and there’s even a touch Cuba.

Main House

Open the front door, and you’re immediately taken by the wide-open feel of the great room. Two full walls in the living room area feature the original Dade County pine boarding, the foremost building material of the historic homes in Old Town Key West. The décor is thoroughly contemporary, yet thanks to the bare wood exudes a warm inviting ambience.

Take note of architectural features such as the exposed Dade County pinewood beams, and the textured-glass window at the ceiling vault, opposite the stain glass Fleur-de- lis. On the wall to your left, a four-panel sliding glass door opens to the lounging porch and the outdoor garden space beyond. On beautiful tropical weather days, these open doors allow for easy movement and generous airflow between the indoor and outdoor areas.

Living / Dining Room: The living room grouping is set in the front left corner of the great room and provides luxurious seating and a big 42” flat-screen TV. Just beyond the seating is the dining room area. Here you can have a sit-down dinner in comfort, at a generous size round table with 4 upholstered chairs. The dining area extends  to the kitchen, with a table height breakfast counter and 4 comfortable stools.

Kitchen: Across the breakfast counter is the beautifully designed kitchen. Bright white cottage style cabinetry blends beautifully with upscale stainless-steel  appliances. The fully equipped kitchen includes KitchenAid appliances with a two-over-one refrigerator-freezer, drawer-style microwave, disposal, and dishwasher. The gas range features six burners and a digital oven control panel. Expansive white marble counter tops offer plenty of space for working and serving.

Bedrooms and Bathrooms

We now make our way down the hall past the kitchen. Be sure to notice the collection of graphic Cuban art displayed along the way. Making our way down the hall past the kitchen, we walk toward the back of the home. Immediately on the right is a half-bathroom. A single vanity is topped with a black granite sink and appointed with a round vanity mirror. A sepia tone drawing of a deep keel sailboat adds a nautical flare. Across the hall from the half-bath is a laundry closet with a stacked Whirlpool washer and dryer and utility space. Stepping back into the hall, the master bedroom is at the end.

Master Bedroom Suite - The statement-scale illuminated art piece, Midnight, by Stephen Harlan, provides a striking focal point to the master bedroom. With the bedroom lights out, it will be easy to imagine drifting at anchor on a calm sea. Modern Euro-style furnishings and muted colors of sand-tones and turquoise invite you to wind down, relax and slumber in island style. The king size bed has an oversized button-tufted linen headboard that adds a touch of comfortable luxury.  

Opposite the bed, there’s an ample chest of drawers with a 32” flat screen TV and a spacious clothes closet. One of the nicest features of the master bedroom, is the set of single pane French doors that provide direct access to the deck, pool garden and adjacent guest cottage. Two chaise lounges are set on the deck directly out the French doors. Stylish shade sails provide sun protection, making this a nice spot to start the day with coffee and end it with a glass of wine.

The master bathroom is expansive and feels even larger with a vaulted ceiling. Bright white paint and tile accentuate the oversized frameless glass-enclosed shower. The wooden vanity is topped with a white marble counter and provides double sinks. The little triangular window in the ceiling peak draws the eye upward to enhance the open feel of this luxury bathroom.

2^nd Floor Bedroom Suite - Located upstairs, the 2^nd bedroom and bathroom, are reached via a wide switch-back staircase. To reach the staircase, pass through the kitchen, then through a cased passageway. A window at the bottom of the landing provides a beautiful view of the pool garden, and when you reach the top of the landing another window gives a down look view of the heart-shape pool.

At the top of the stairs, to the right, is a hallway. As you walk down the hall, immediately to the left is a door to a small balcony. The balcony offers view of the garden deck below and provides a great space to step outside for some fresh air. Continuing down the hallway, a frosted glass-paned privacy door leads to the bedroom and bathroom.

The bedroom is located through the first door on the right. Casual yet elegant, the upstairs bedroom is light and airy. At the same time it feels cozy, with its slanted ceilings. Along the left wall, there’s a queen size bed with a soft upholstered headboard. Mango wood side tables with ceramic lamps flank the bed on both sides.

Straight ahead, a four-panel interior gable window can be opened for a view of the great room below. Textured glass keeps the bedroom private when it’s  closed. A window-seat cabinet holds a 30” flat screen TV for easy viewing from bed. Quiet minimalist décor makes this room a private upstairs retreat to enjoy after a full day of Key West fun.

Back to the hallway and to the right, is the luxury bath with unique marble fixtures. A large corner shower with frameless glass doors is tiled with red Rosso Levanto marble. In contrast, the dark wood vanity is topped with white Italian marble and set with a matching vessel sink. A sash window, to the left of the vanity, invites in the daylight and looks out on the tropical treetops.

Guest Cottage

The guest cottage is nestled at the back of the property, just past the heart-shaped pool. Serving as the third bedroom suite for Villa Corazon, it provides ultimate privacy as a free-standing cottage, complete with kitchenette. It is easily accessed at two points. From the main house, it is connected by a lounging  deck that adjoins the master bedroom of the main house. It is easily accessed through the side garden of the property, where there are two sets of French doors. The door to the left connects to the living room, and the door to the right provides private access to the bedroom. Sail

Décor in the guest cottage is luxury coastal casual. Paint and furnishings carry the same elegant white, silver, and blue tones as the main house. But the playful artwork celebrates the lore of the sea, the mermaid, and the ever-elusive octopus. The living room features a console cabinet with an artistic octopus painted on the front. The round white coffee table displays a compass rose graphic. The bedroom dives into the mermaid fun with an adorable graphic art piece. Sea grass side chairs and seashell throw pillows complete the look.

The living room grouping provides a sleeper-sofa, two easy chairs, and a large flat screen TV set on the octopus console. Designed with cottage style cabinets, the kitchenette provides a bar sink, convection oven, and a under counter refrigerator. The butcher 48-inch block counter incorporates an ingenious slide-out counter table that’s perfect for enjoying meals.

Cottage Bedroom and Bathroom -  Opposite the cottage dining counter, a 5-panel barn door leads to the bedroom. This serves as the third bedroom for Villa Corazon. The cottage bedroom feels spacious with the tall hard-chine bright white ceiling with open beams. White coastal-style furniture includes a queen-size bed with matching bedside tables and dresser. A statement abstract art piece creates a colorful feature wall. Directly opposite the bed to the right, is a wall-mount 32” TV. To the left, double French doors lead out to the deck and pool garden just beyond. But before we step outside, we look at the luxury bathroom that is a just out the hall, a few steps away.

The cottage bathroom has an oversized shower finished in elegant sand-tone porcelain tile and frameless glass doors. There’s a built-in bathing bench, a ceiling rain head shower plus bathing wand. A single wood vanity has a white marble countertop. A mosaic framed mirror with overhead modern lighting reflect the tropical trees out the window.

GROUNDS

Villa Corazon is built on a 4100 SQ FT lot, which is quite spacious for Key West. The curb appeal is impressive with a variety of mature tropical landscaping and white picket fences with capital posts. During the Spring and Summer, a tall frangipani tree blooms to make a stunning feature at the front fence. There are 2 off-street parking spaces, plus additional space to park in front of the property. The gate at the front of the property leads to the front porch. The gate at the driveway leads to the private pool-garden.

The pool garden is situated along the east side of the property. A contemporary design, the grounds are designed with sand-tone pavers and contrasting gray stones. As you walk back through the garden you pass a glass-topped wicker dining table with chairs, and a propane gas grill for cookouts. To the right of the dining table, tucked under the palms, there’s a little bistro table and two chairs, another perfect spot for morning pastries and coffee or afternoon snack.

As we continue walking toward the back and you'll spy the unique heart-shaped swimming pool set into a lush grotto of tropical palms. You’ll adore the cascade waterfall feature, just the right height to bath your neck and shoulders.Truly an calming sight and sound to lure you to this spot time and again throughout your stay.

A final outdoor garden feature is the long covered sitting porch along the side of the main house. This porch creates an open outdoor space to enjoy the garden with protection from the rain and shade from the sun. It is staged with chairs and ottomans and has steps leading down to the garden and the pool. Double sets of sliding doors connect the porch with the great room near the kitchen. The span of doors creates a beautiful garden view, while they also provide easy access to serve and enjoy food and drinks in the garden.

Bedding Summary:

• Master Bedroom Suite -  King size bed
• 2^nd Floor Bedroom Suite - 1 Queen size bed
• Guest Cottage – 1 Queen size bed
• Guest Cottage Great Room - Queen Sleeper Sofa

Amenities: Upscale complete renovation with many extras. Beautifully decorated and furnished. Fully equipped up-scale kitchen. 42- inch flat screen TV living room. 32-inch flat screen TV in each of the three bedrooms. Central A/C. Linens and Towels are provided. There is a laundry closet in the back hallway with stacked Whirlpool washer/dryer. Heart-shaped swimming pool, lush tropical garden, large private sun deck, gas BBQ grill.

Activities: Conveniently located close to White Street where you find Fausto's Fine Food Palace grocer, art galleries, restaurants, authentic Cuban coffee shops, hair salons, restaurants, and coffee shops. Yoga studio, massage therapist, chiropractor, consignment shops, two gas stations. Close to Higgs Beach, children’s parks, tennis and pickleball courts, White Street Pier. Ride your bike to Duval Street and the Southernmost point of the U.S. In 10 minutes.

Area:  Directly across from Key West City Hall- an historic (1928) elementary school recently given a $19M makeover. Just two doors down from White Street, referred to by many as The Local's Duval, which offers a culturally diverse assortment of locally favorite businesses including restaurants, bakeries, Cuban Coffee shops, consignment shops, tile stores, small grocery stores, and art galleries.

A variety of art galleries now deems it the White Street Gallery District, and because the former home of famous playwright Tennessee Williams is in this neighborhood this district is also his namesake. The architecture presents an eclectic variety of mid 1900's to mid-20th century styles to create an authentic Key West neighborhood ambience. From here you can walk to the beach in 5-10 minutes and to Duval Street in 20.

Parking: This home has private designated off-street parking paved with bricks for one car. Parking on the street is fine too.

Restrictions: Month minimum rental. Smoke free house. Not suitable for staging loud parties. Maximum of 8 guests allowed. We do not accept guests less than 25 years of age unless accompanied by a family or group.