Sunrise: 06:41 AM EST - Sunset: 05:41 PM EST
Key West Architecture
Key West, the last island city at the southern tip of Florida, exhibits a diverse blend of architectural styles. Over 3,000 wood frame structures survive from the nineteenth century and comprise a significant National Register Historic District.
Key West was settled in 1823 by New England natives, Cubans emigres, and fishermen, wreckers and spongers from the Bahamas. The wooden houses remain as the legacy of those early pioneers.
The hand-crafted, wooden Conch Houses comprise no simple, pure style. These antique dwellings mirror a multi-cultural legacy of Bahamian, New England, African, Creole and Victorian influences. Conch architecture was inspired by New England seacoast architecture, Gulf Coast building forms, and Caribbean prototypes—all adapted by the seafaring carpenters who produced skillfully crafted sloops and schooners. Carpenter-architects, using no formal plans, improvised from their ship-building experience to construct the one and two-story homes.
What emerged from the melange of influences was an indigenous building stock, diverse in its roots and adapted to the tropics. From New England came the Greek Revival, or Classic Revival, well proportioned houses with double hung sash windows, columns, pediments and widow’s walks. From the Bahamas came extended, overhanging eaves that covered balconies, and sloping gutters to funnel rainwater through downspouts into concrete holding tanks, known as cisterns. From Abaco and other Bahamian islands came the louvered shutters filtering out the tropical heat, while allowing summer breezes to circulate. From the Gulf Coast towns like New Orleans, via Africa and Haiti, came the shotgun style dwelling. Roof hatches, utilized in ships, were borrowed to facilitate ventilation.
Today former dwellings of Cuban cigarmakers and spongers, clapboarded, narrow and shuttered, stand next to more stately Classic Revival mansions. Historic preservation is in full swing nationally; restoration efforts are visible at many Key West corners. The concentration of historic, antique houses, Old Town's narrow streets, tucked away lanes and deadend alleys, the close knit neighbors and the pedestrian scale all remain largely unchanged.
The island’s built environment—the treasured legacy of shipbuilders, carpenters, cigar workers, spongers and fishermen who once inhabited Key West—is an irreplaceable resource.
For more information visit us on Facebook or contact us at info@walkbikeguide.com
Key West was settled in 1823 by New England natives, Cubans emigres, and fishermen, wreckers and spongers from the Bahamas. The wooden houses remain as the legacy of those early pioneers.
The hand-crafted, wooden Conch Houses comprise no simple, pure style. These antique dwellings mirror a multi-cultural legacy of Bahamian, New England, African, Creole and Victorian influences. Conch architecture was inspired by New England seacoast architecture, Gulf Coast building forms, and Caribbean prototypes—all adapted by the seafaring carpenters who produced skillfully crafted sloops and schooners. Carpenter-architects, using no formal plans, improvised from their ship-building experience to construct the one and two-story homes.
What emerged from the melange of influences was an indigenous building stock, diverse in its roots and adapted to the tropics. From New England came the Greek Revival, or Classic Revival, well proportioned houses with double hung sash windows, columns, pediments and widow’s walks. From the Bahamas came extended, overhanging eaves that covered balconies, and sloping gutters to funnel rainwater through downspouts into concrete holding tanks, known as cisterns. From Abaco and other Bahamian islands came the louvered shutters filtering out the tropical heat, while allowing summer breezes to circulate. From the Gulf Coast towns like New Orleans, via Africa and Haiti, came the shotgun style dwelling. Roof hatches, utilized in ships, were borrowed to facilitate ventilation.
Today former dwellings of Cuban cigarmakers and spongers, clapboarded, narrow and shuttered, stand next to more stately Classic Revival mansions. Historic preservation is in full swing nationally; restoration efforts are visible at many Key West corners. The concentration of historic, antique houses, Old Town's narrow streets, tucked away lanes and deadend alleys, the close knit neighbors and the pedestrian scale all remain largely unchanged.
The island’s built environment—the treasured legacy of shipbuilders, carpenters, cigar workers, spongers and fishermen who once inhabited Key West—is an irreplaceable resource.
For more information visit us on Facebook or contact us at info@walkbikeguide.com