Key West Houses

Key West, a tropical island-city located 150 miles south of Miami, Florida, offers an exceptional array of residential architecture examples. Some of the styles embraced in this once-bustling southern port of entry are unique to the island and reflect changes in the economic and social environment in the United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Houses built in Key West range from the small cottages built for cigar-factory workers to the elaborate Victorians constructed by those who were successful in the local ship-salvaging business. Key West--the southernmost point of the continental United States--has been the site of the winter White House, and is known as a mecca for literary and artistic types such as Tennessee Williams and Ernest Hemingway. The houses of Key West have been extraordinarily restored and preserved, offering a glimpse of the romance and charm of a particularly American style of living.

Leslie Linsley and Jon Aron, a well-known husband-and-wife team specializing in books on crafts and design topics, have produced over thirty-five top-selling volumes, including Rizzoli's Nantucket Style. Linsley, a writer on home-decorating subjects, and Aron, a graphic designer and photographer, regularly contribute to several major shelter magazines; Linsley also writes a syndicated column devoted to home style. They are based in New York City and Nantucket Island.