Key West's Southernmost Point Mansion
Today, it’s known as the “Mansion on the Sea”, but the iconic pastel pink Queen Anne Victorian mansion located at the southernmost point in Key West began as a luxurious private home.
Judge Jeptha Vining Harris built the mansion in 1897 for $250,000. His wife Florida Curry Harris was the youngest daughter of William Curry, Florida’s first millionaire. The Curry family were builders with eight mansions in the Historic District of Key West.
It was the first home in Key West to have electricity and Thomas Edison was engaged to oversee the electrical design and installation in the house. As a parting gift Edison left his personal phonograph, one of the first three originally patented as a present for the family, where it remains in the lobby of the mansion to this day.
The Harris family were prominent citizens at the turn of the century and had invested in Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad, often entertaining him at the mansion during the railroad’s construction.
During the Prohibition period from 1919-1933 the mansion served as a speakeasy named “Cafe Cayo Hueso”. The first floor was a restaurant, the second floor was used as a casino and gambling, while the third floor was for socializing.
During this period celebrities and notarious gangsters, including Al Capone, who were in route to Havana visited the mansion.
Earnest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Louis Armstrong, Gloria Swanson, Gore Vidal, Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Lindbergh and others frequented the nightclub.
The mansion has hosted five American presidents: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon and Carter.
Today it’s an upscale adults only 18 room bed and breakfast, with its open water views, two story balconies and large stained glass windows.
In 2016 it was inducted into the Historic Hotels of America.
Paula Garland Apr 06, 2026 Key West FL Back in Time History Places to Stay
Apr 06, 2026
SHARE
