Grillmaster's Box by Meat N’ Bone
Museum and Garden in Key West I Venue
Museum and Garden in Key West I Venue
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• Historical home in the heart of Key West
• Completely renovated garden with new brick pathways, lighting, and landscaping.
About The House
The house features family portraits and original furnishings, as well as other period pieces, ship models, and documents telling the story of old Key West. In the rear of the house is a spacious, peaceful garden, where benches invite you to sit and reflect. There, you will see the oldest surviving Cook House in South Florida.
Please stop by and tour the Oldest House in Key West, built-in 1829. Key West’s oldest wood frame vernacular home (a simple wood frame building, which is the product of the builder’s experience, available resources, and response to the environment) and its cookhouse is located in the beautiful garden. Our volunteering docents will tell you the rich history of the house and the people that lived here as well as what island life was like in the 1800s. The Museum is open from 10 am to 4 pm daily (Closed Sundays from May through October). Trained staff and volunteer docents provide guided tours highlighting historical information about the house, family, and island life in the 1800s.
The builder of the Oldest House was Richard Cussans, who immigrated to the Island of Key West in about 1826 from the Bahamas. He was in his mid-twenties when he built the house. He may have trained and apprenticed as a ship’s carpenter but he would not have been a shipwright at that young age. That level of craft was not easily achieved. He owned slaves and likely used their labors in the construction of the Oldest House in 1829. He was an enterprising and talented young man who built several of the original buildings on the island which he either sold or rented out. Several other structures he built have not survived. It is believed he left Key West in the late 1830s and sailed west to the new Republic of Texas.
The house was built from lumber sourced in South Florida. That may have included cypress, cedar, and most certainly Dade County Pine (Pinus Elliott var. Densa). These wood materials are renowned for their durability in Florida’s harsh environment. A frame was built of large timbers, without the use of nails, which stress the wood and can cause cracks and splits. Joinery, mortise and tenon, posts, and beams were fitted together mechanically and secured with holes bored and pegged. A method used in wooden shipbuilding, this creates and tight and rigid structure that is unlikely to fail from cracks and breakage due to stresses. Additionally, the framing was sheathed on both exterior and interior supporting walls with one-inch thick pine boards using cut nails. This box-in-a-box construction made the building even more rigid and tough.
About hosting an event
Garden rental
Events must start after 4 pm and finish by 10:30 pm
A Refundable $1,000 Security Deposit is due the week of the event and will be returned within 30 days less any damages or additional fees incurred. *Additional fees may be assessed if needed beyond the deposit amount.
Price is shown in this listing.
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Small Garden Option available contact us for pricing
Only Ceremony Option available contact us for pricing