A Duval Duet

Exquisitely Key West yet exotically Cuban, this classy compendium of an elegant casa grande plus vintage casita is ideally located in the fascinating Upper South End of Duval Street. To create this unique Duval Duet vacation rental property we've combined a stunning 2-story neo-classic stand-out home with a luxuriously renovated historic cottage to create a perfect duet of Key West dwellings. Situated across the street from each other, on the quieter end of Duval, the living is made easy with lots of room to spread out and plenty of privacy.

Between the main house and the cottage there are a total of 5 beautifully appointed bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, and a private swimming pool making this a great option for families or friends traveling together. The hub of this 2-dwelling property is the spacious ground floor great room which incorporates a new gourmet kitchen, dining area, living room and adjoining luxury bath that is located in the one-of-a-kind two-story home known as Viva On Duval. The back yard pool and sunning deck for this property duet is also found at the larger home. Upstairs on the 2nd floor there are two 3 elegant bedrooms and a lavish bathroom.

But there is no need to flip a coin to see who gets to sleep in the romantic Viva casa since the authentic casita, also affectionately known as the Cockadoodle Cottage, is set as 2 beautifully renovated up-scale bedroom suites, each with a private en-suite bathroom. And, a small but fully equipped kitchen adjoining cozy lounge area is conveniently situated between the two suites in the middle of the cottage. Two couples (or mom, dad and two kids) can comfortably relax in this setting and go over to the main house for socializing, dining and swimming. On an island where hotel suites near Duval Street start at hundreds of dollars a night, this luxuriously renovated authentic duet property with 5-star amenities is an incredible deal! Today there are only a few such historic private residences that are available for rent for less than a month. Most properties of this type have been made over into apartments, bed and breakfast, or hotel style accommodations.

INTERIOR DESIGN AND LAYOUT (MAIN HOUSE): This neo-classical "stand-out" home of fine distinction is a wonderful treasure that reminds us of romantic days of opulence when Key West and Cuba had both a business and brotherhood bond fueled by the seafaring trades throughout the Caribbean. Throughout the restorations and renovations the interior of this home has, for the most part retained its authentic original layout. An impressive entrance hall on the 1st floor has polished hard wood floors makes a grand statement when you first enter the home to meet a perfectly restored original wooden banister staircase seems to mysteriously wind to the second floor. Stately rooms with 12- foot ceilings line both sides of the house.

The elegant entrance hall grows into a long and wide sitting room, and toward the back on the right is a spacious luxury bathroom classically divided into two rooms that include a "bathing room" and a "commode room." Ceramic sink bowls elegantly sit atop a large tiled vanity, and the over-sized shower is state-of-the art with frameless glass doors and bathing bench. Left of the grand entrance hall you find the large luxurious great room that is appointed with upscale classic style furnishings, tropical art work, a 50 inch screen plasma TV, with an added feature of a pull out sleeper sofa. Beautiful ceiling light fixtures are carefully chosen crystal chandeliers like the ones that were traditionally found in the opulent manors of Havana.

A brand new custom kitchen offers the latest modern standards with all the amenities you would expect in a modern luxury home of this quality, complete with custom tile work, granite counter tops, and top-of-the-line appliances. A wooden dining table is set between the living room and kitchen. The grand wooden banister staircase lends its fairy tale charm and gracefully winds upstairs to the left leading you to the center of the 2nd floor. The railing at the landing has an open view on both sides of the entry room below, and once you reach the second floor the spacious atrium-style hallway feels like a room in-and-of-itself with polished wooden floors and chandelier light fixtures.

Each upstairs bedroom is spacious, grand, and luxuriously appointed, and each can be regarded as a stately master bedroom in its own right. To the left towards the front of the house the 1st bedroom is the stately green room furnished with a beautiful carved exotic wooden king-size poster bed, classic patterned roman shade window coverings and red-tipped crystal chandelier. The 2nd bedroom on the left, towards the back of the house is done in romantic blue and white and is elegantly furnished with a brilliant white king-size pencil-style poster bed, a pretty blue silk slipper chair, white cloth roman shades and delicate blue tipped crystal chandelier.

As you move past the entry hall the 3rd bedroom is situated towards the back-right corner of the house. This room is painted in soft golden-yellow and is set with a queen size platform bed, soft cloth roman shades and delightful bedroom table and two chairs. Moving around to the middle of the second floor, the entry hall leads to the back door that takes you to the deep verandah porch that wraps all the way around to the front of the house. The front grand verandah is one of most unique and fabulous features of this home.

Back inside the hall as you move to the right is the large luxury European style bathroom. Divided into two rooms there is a separate "commode room" and "bathing room." By setting the bathroom as two separate rooms it services all three bedrooms very efficiently. The large luxurious bathing room offers a gorgeous wood carved bureau vanity sink complete with spacious granite counter top and double sinks. The bathing room also has a built in Jacuzzi bath tub, a bidet, and a double size frameless glass shower.

THE COTTAGE - Enter the front door of the perfectly renovated cottage across the street from the main house and you step immediately into a traditional "shot gun" style hall room that heads straight away to the back door. The cottage is set up to function as two roomy luxury suites with private en-suite bathrooms plus a full kitchen with a dining table and small lounge area.

Just inside the front door, the first door on your left leads to the beautifully decorated front bedroom and luxury en-suite bathroom. The front bedroom is luxurious done with earth-tone furnishings and provides a queen bed. Toward the middle of the cottage is a brand-new modern "U-shaped kitchen," complete with top-of-the-line appliances, recessed lighting, and dining table. The cottage sized kitchen is completely open to the other side of the room and has a sofa and chairs for lounging, relaxing, or watching your favorite movies or sports.

At the back of the house is the spacious 2nd luxury bedroom and en-suite bathroom with Jacuzzi bath tub. The back bedroom suite offers a king size bed and is similarly appointed with earth-tone bedding and furnishings. At the end of the hall the back door opens to the small back porch.

Sleeping configuration:

• Main House - Viva On Duval - Second floor - 2 king size beds, 1 queen size bed
• Green Room - king size bed; Blue Room - king size bed; Okra room - queen size bed
• First Floor: 1 queen sleeper sofa in the living room
• Cottage - Cockadoodle Cottage - 1 king size bed. 1 queen size bed. Each bedroom is a suite with its own en-suite luxury bath

Amenities: Upscale renovation and luxury furnishings. Swimming pool, large tiled deck, tropical gardens, expansive porches, and privacy fences. 2 fully equipped kitchens, central a/c, telephone, color cable TV, stereo, washer / dryer. Linens and towels are provided. Catering can be arranged. Maid service can be scheduled.

Grounds: Grounds for this property encompasses the yards of both the elegant main 2-story house and the vintage renovated cottage facing it across the street. Staying true to the original 1930's design of the main home, the stand-out yard front is planted with neatly trimmed green lawn outlined with tropical foliage with large curvaceous front porches on the first floor and verandah on the second floor with a seafarer's view of the ocean.

The main house back yard is made private with a tall white picket fence and offers a nice size swimming pool and large tiled deck. A door from the pool deck to the great room makes the ideal set up for private entertaining pool side. The vintage renovated cottage displays a traditional shot-gun style covered sitting porch spanning across the front and looks across the street to the main house. From here you can catch a view of the ocean and a soft salt southern breeze. Pretty wicker furnishings have been placed for guests to sit and watch the world of Key West go by. A wide variety of beautiful palm trees, bougainvillea, and tropical foliage create a tropical island setting on each property.

Activities: Elegant Upper Duval St. - Close to the Southern Most Point of the United States. South Beach is visible from both front porches so "mozy on over" for some sun and good food. There is a great open air beach side restaurant there with a full bar and excellent beach side menu. And right down the street is the Coffee and Tea house where you get your caffeine and then head down Duval Street for shopping and sight seeing. Café neighborhood features art galleries, wonderful eateries and internationally famous fine restaurants, fine gift and clothing stores, the Butterfly Conservatory, Grand Vin wine tasting, home made ice cream. Here you start at the top of Duval St. near the Atlantic Ocean and can take the 20 min "Duval Crawl" to the Gulf of Mexico (remember it takes 3 to 4 Key West streets to equal the distance of a typical city block). Sailing, boating, diving, museums, nightlife. See this exhaustive list  Things to See and Do in Key West for favorite places.

Area: Upper Duval or ‘Uptown Key West’ has evolved into the “elegant end of Duval” and offers an exceptional variety of restaurants, beautiful boutiques, and art galleries. Close enough to South Beach that you can see it from the porch and the Southernmost Point of the United States is just around the corner. Walk to the Mallory Square Sunset Celebration in 15 to 20 minutes.

Parking: There is off-street parking for up to 3 vehicles. Two standard cars can be parked (one behind the other) in the driveway at the main Viva On Duval house, and one full size car can be parked in the driveway to the side of the cottage. But from this location you really never need to get in your car, so if you can try living without it. Upper Duval Street is right out your front door, so forget the hassle of parking and the expense of parking meters, and enjoy walking or biking everywhere. Enjoy the island to the fullest, and then come home to relax.

Restrictions: Smoke free house. Only well behaved children. Smoking permitted outside only. As with all private vacation homes, occupants of this property must adhere to the Sound Control / Noise Ordinance of Key West - ARTICLE IV Sec. 26-191. Absolutely no pets please.

Notes: Beginning October 15, 2012, a swimming pool will be added in the back yard for the Cockadoodle Cottage, and the rates will increase for all rentals made for A Duval Duet for that date and future dates.

Beginning October 15, 2012, when the Viva On Duval villa and the Cockadoodle Cottage are rented together as A Duval Duet, the property will have two private swimming pools.

Beginning October 15, 2012 with the addition of the new pool, rates will be:

Winter ...................... $6700. per week / $1200. per night - 7 night min.

Shoulder .................  $5900. per week / $1100. per night - 3 night min. may be possible 60 days prior to arrival

Summer ..................  $5100. per week / $1000. per night - 3 night min. may be possible depending on availability