Oldest House Museum & Gardens Key West

The Oldest House on Duval Street is a two-story wooden structure topped with a distinct widow's walk. Built around eighteen twenty-nine by Francis Watlington, a sea captain and ship salvager, it sits on land once held by a Spanish land grant. After a hurricane nearly destroyed the town in eighteen forty-six, Watlington moved his house from its original lot to this spot on higher ground. The building survived because Watlington put his family home on rollers and pulled it to safety.