When Dubravka Wahl first laid eyes on her unique Florida home in 2023, she instantly fell in love. Not just with the prime beachfront location and double-lot property—but with the unique pirate-inspired architecture that lent the property its signature Keys feel.
“It was absolutely gorgeous,” she recalls of the $2 million home, which is suitably located on Jolly Roger Drive. “I thought, ‘Wow, craftsmanship, a masterpiece.'”
However, upon further inspection of the property, Wahl was left horrified by its derelict condition. The Cudjoe Key dwelling, which was completed in 1982, hadn’t been updated in nearly 50 years and she remembers thinking what a “dump” it was, adding that it looked “so scary.”
But that didn’t drive her away—in fact, it only served to convince her that she was the right person to take over the home.
It was that passion that ultimately secured her the property; while many investors and developers were flocking to the Keys looking for aging homes that they could tear down and replace with modern mansions, Wahl saw something worth preserving.
“Everyone else who made an offer wanted to tear it down because it sits on two lots, 14,000 square feet total, but the previous owner was heartbroken at that idea,” she explained.
“Her father, an architect from Massachusetts, built it as a vacation home in the early 1980s. She told me, ‘Whoever promises not to tear it down will get the house.’ So I did, and that’s why I got it.”
Wahl undertook an extensive renovation, restoring the home to its former glory and adapting it for modern Florida living. She even installed air conditioning, something the previous owner had surprisingly resisted.
“Nothing structural needed changing, but everything else was outdated,” she explained. “I installed new air conditioning and restored it with respect for the original design. It’s a home built for a subtropical environment … there’s 26-foot ceilings in the main room and even 16-foot ceilings in the bathrooms, so the heat rises naturally.”
The original craftsmanship also ensures that the property will stand the test of time, resisting the ravages of the local climate.
“What’s amazing is that it was built with Florida lumber, Dade pine and cedar, which is perfect for this climate,” Wahl added. “It has balconies, catwalks, and that beautiful bridge connecting the two upper bedrooms. It’s so charming.”
Now in her later years, Wahl is selling the home, citing both personal reasons and a broader shift in a community that she feels priced out of.
“When I first came to the Florida Keys nearly 40 years ago, people were social. You’d visit neighbors, host little festivals. Now people stay behind closed doors, entertained by their devices. You don’t even see children playing outside anymore. The sense of community has really faded,” she said.
Wahl blames that shift on the COVID-19 pandemic, when an influx of newcomers arrived in the Keys, changing the face of the community—both in terms of its aesthetics and its feel.
“COVID changed everything. During the pandemic, people wanted to get out of cities, and the Keys felt safe, it was just bridges connecting small islands,” she said.
“So people discovered it. But now, if you can afford to build a $5 or $6 million house here, you’re probably not working in the Keys; you’re in New York or Abu Dhabi. That’s who’s buying it now.”
Rising property taxes have compounded the challenge for long-term residents—including Wahl, who said her renovation of the home only served to increase her bills.
“When I bought this home, taxes were low because it was falling apart. Now that I’ve restored it, the tax assessor tripled them,” she revealed. “It’s driving elderly people like me out. We’re on fixed incomes, we can’t afford that.”
Hikes in property taxes have become a hot button political issue in the state, with many residents struggling to keep up. That’s why politicians like Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed eliminating property taxes in the state earlier this year.
Just last week the Florida House rolled out a series of proposed constitutional amendments to cut property taxes, including the DeSantis-backed idea of eliminating them in their entirety, which state residents will get to vote on in the 2026 ballot.
Wahl, who is a fan of famed architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, laments that character homes like hers are increasingly being replaced by modern “concrete bunkers” as new residents with deep pockets shift to the area.
“They’re building what I call ‘concrete bunkers’—big, white, steel, boxy homes with no charm. They look like dental offices. The architecture has lost its soul,” she said.
Although Wahl can no longer guarantee the home will remain intact under new ownership, she hopes prospective buyers will reconsider demolition.
“My message to buyers is simple: Rethink tearing down. Add on, renovate, expand—don’t destroy,” she urged.
The home Wahl is selling, which is full of the pirate charm she adores, is listed at $1.99 million—and is a rare oceanfront offering on the lower Keys. Nestled on nearly 0.16 acres (approximately 6,970 square feet) of waterfront land, it features four bedrooms and three full bathrooms across roughly 2,440 square feet of living space.
Built on concrete stilts in 1982 and fully renovated, the property is resilient against hurricane-driven surge and tidal challenges.
The home boasts high-impact doors and windows, new air conditioning, fresh flooring, and a custom kitchen with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances, blending modern systems with original architectural character.
The cathedral-ceilinged living and dining area opens via multiple sliders to a covered porch of approximately 500 square feet, offering panoramic ocean views and a seamless indoor-outdoor lifestyle. The double-lot footprint and use of Dade pine and cedar provide both structural significance and enduring charm.
While Wahl is sad to part with her pirate-ship-inspired home, the sale represents an opportunity for a buyer to preserve a classic Old Florida Keys residence in a prime oceanfront location.