David W. Wolkowsky
Encyclopedia
David Wolkowsky, developer, eccentric, and local aristocrat born in Key West
, Florida
.
He is largely responsible for the preservation of Key West and the prevention of high-rise buildings on the island paradise. His grandfather, Abraham Wolkowsky, moved to Key West in the late 1880s and established a fine clothing store on Duval Street
. His sister, Dr. Ruth W. Greenfield, is the prominent Miami musician and social activist. His nephew is the photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
.
David Wolkowsky grew up in Key West and Miami and received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania
. After college, he began to restore buildings in the inner city of Philadelphia. He is credited with starting the rejuvenation of Society Hill
and Rittenhouse Square
in that city.
Wolkowsky visited Key West in late 1962, after the death of his father, Isaac Wolkowsky. The family had a few properties in "old town" Key West and Wolkowsky decided to "retire" to Key West at the age of 40. Unable to sit still, he rescued a condemned bar on family land on Greene Street, which was the original home of "Sloppy Joe's" of Hemingway
fame. From there he developed property on lower Duval and Front Streets including "Pirate's Alley" and the "Original Cigar Factory". In 1963, Wolkowsky accomplished a major real estate coup by purchasing, for $106,000, the old Cuban Ferry Dock, choice waterfront property near Mallory Square.
Wolkowsky lifted the 1890 Porter Steamship office off its foundation and moved it 300 feet (91.4 m) out, setting it on pilings in 40 feet (12.2 m) of water. He transformed the Steamship office into "Tony's Fish Market", a restaurant and cocktail lounge where guests could watch shrimp boats in the channel on their way into port.
In 1967 Wolkowsky hired architect Yiannis B. Antonidis to help design a motel around the restaurant, with 50 unique rooms, to which 50 more rooms that faced the ocean were quickly added. The completed structure was christened "Pier House Resort Motel". Both Jimmy Buffett
and Bob Marley
started their careers in the hotel's funky "Chart Room Bar". Buffett credits Wolkowsky as the first to hire him.
The Pier House became a magnet for celebrities and media types, mostly because of Wolkowsky's unique personality and laissez-faire attitude. When writer Truman Capote
arrived at the hotel to spend the winter he asked Wolkowsky to show him the best rooms. After viewing several choice units, Wolkowsky invited Capote over for a drink, to his residence of the moment, a 45 feet (13.7 m), two-bedroom, double-wide trailer, covered in bamboo
and parked 10 feet (3 m) from the hotel's waterfront. Capote begged Wolkowsky to rent him the trailer. Wolkowsky finally agreed and moved into a suite of rooms, in his own hotel, for the winter, to accommodate the writer. Capote's "Answered Prayers" were written in Wolkowsky's waterfront trailer. Discarded handwritten pages were often given to Wolkowsky by Capote in gratitude for allowing him to write in the trailer. Years later, the papers were stolen from Wolkowsky's penthouse apartment
, high atop Key West's former Kresge
five and dime
. Wolkowsky had restored the building, renting out the ground floor to department store "Fast Buck Freddies" and the upper floors to the Key West Parole Department. He is quoted as saying, "I never felt safer than when I lived above the Parole Board. The Capote papers were stolen by someone I know, not by a parolee".
While building the Pier House, Wolkowsky bought Ballast Key
, an uninhabited, private island, 8 miles (12.9 km) off Key West. He built a large house and guest house on the island and entertained many of his writer friends there, including Tennessee Williams
and Capote. He is known for serving hot dogs, white wine and potato chips to guests including British Prime Minister Edward Heath
, various Rockefellers, Mellons and Vanderbilts. During construction of the island Wolkowsky sent his private barge out to the island loaded with building supplies as well as with chocolate pudding and souffles, from The Pier House kitchens, for his laborers.
Wolkowsky continued to restore dozens of homes around Key West, as well as building the original "Reach Resort" across town. He could always be spotted, wearing several pairs of sunglasses on his head and some hanging from his neck, while driving around town in either his golf cart or his 1926 Rolls-Royce
.
In 2000, Wolkowsky created a Teacher Merit Awards fund, which gives $5,000 to each of nine Key West teachers as well as a $25,000 award to a single teacher each year. About teachers in Key West, Wolkowsky was quoted in the Key West Citizen saying, "They have to be protected and nurtured".
In the mid-1990s, a street adjoining the Key West Historical Society was named "David Wolkowsky Street" in his honor. As of 2011, at the age of 91, Wolkowsky continues to lunch on hot dogs on Ballast Key.
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
He is largely responsible for the preservation of Key West and the prevention of high-rise buildings on the island paradise. His grandfather, Abraham Wolkowsky, moved to Key West in the late 1880s and established a fine clothing store on Duval Street
Duval Street
Duval Street is a famous downtown commercial zoned street in Key West, Florida, running north and south from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Duval Street is the location of many famous restaurants and bars, including Sloppy Joe's, Fogarty's Restaurant, Bar and Bakery and it's "The...
. His sister, Dr. Ruth W. Greenfield, is the prominent Miami musician and social activist. His nephew is the photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders is an American portrait photographer known for his strikingly intimate portraits of world leaders and major cultural figures. The majority of his work is shot in large format, 11x14 inch black-and-white film and 8x10 color film...
.
David Wolkowsky grew up in Key West and Miami and received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. After college, he began to restore buildings in the inner city of Philadelphia. He is credited with starting the rejuvenation of Society Hill
Society Hill
Society Hill may refer to:* Society Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a neighborhood in Philadelphia* Society Hill, South Carolina* Society Hill, Middlesex County, New Jersey, an unincorporated community in Middlesex County, New Jersey...
and Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The park cuts off 19th Street at Walnut Street and also at a half block above Manning Street. Its boundaries are...
in that city.
Wolkowsky visited Key West in late 1962, after the death of his father, Isaac Wolkowsky. The family had a few properties in "old town" Key West and Wolkowsky decided to "retire" to Key West at the age of 40. Unable to sit still, he rescued a condemned bar on family land on Greene Street, which was the original home of "Sloppy Joe's" of Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
fame. From there he developed property on lower Duval and Front Streets including "Pirate's Alley" and the "Original Cigar Factory". In 1963, Wolkowsky accomplished a major real estate coup by purchasing, for $106,000, the old Cuban Ferry Dock, choice waterfront property near Mallory Square.
Wolkowsky lifted the 1890 Porter Steamship office off its foundation and moved it 300 feet (91.4 m) out, setting it on pilings in 40 feet (12.2 m) of water. He transformed the Steamship office into "Tony's Fish Market", a restaurant and cocktail lounge where guests could watch shrimp boats in the channel on their way into port.
In 1967 Wolkowsky hired architect Yiannis B. Antonidis to help design a motel around the restaurant, with 50 unique rooms, to which 50 more rooms that faced the ocean were quickly added. The completed structure was christened "Pier House Resort Motel". Both Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
and Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
started their careers in the hotel's funky "Chart Room Bar". Buffett credits Wolkowsky as the first to hire him.
The Pier House became a magnet for celebrities and media types, mostly because of Wolkowsky's unique personality and laissez-faire attitude. When writer Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
arrived at the hotel to spend the winter he asked Wolkowsky to show him the best rooms. After viewing several choice units, Wolkowsky invited Capote over for a drink, to his residence of the moment, a 45 feet (13.7 m), two-bedroom, double-wide trailer, covered in bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
and parked 10 feet (3 m) from the hotel's waterfront. Capote begged Wolkowsky to rent him the trailer. Wolkowsky finally agreed and moved into a suite of rooms, in his own hotel, for the winter, to accommodate the writer. Capote's "Answered Prayers" were written in Wolkowsky's waterfront trailer. Discarded handwritten pages were often given to Wolkowsky by Capote in gratitude for allowing him to write in the trailer. Years later, the papers were stolen from Wolkowsky's penthouse apartment
Penthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...
, high atop Key West's former Kresge
Kresge
- People and characters :* Cliff Kresge , an American professional golfer* Geoff Kresge, songwriter, guitarist, bassist with the band AFI* George Joseph Kresge , American mentalist better known as Kreskin or The Amazing Kreskin...
five and dime
Five and Dime
Five and Dime is a cartoon short by Walter Lantz which features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 74th Oswald short produced by Lantz and the 125th overall. It also is among the number of shorts that feature Oswald in his fully clothed appearance....
. Wolkowsky had restored the building, renting out the ground floor to department store "Fast Buck Freddies" and the upper floors to the Key West Parole Department. He is quoted as saying, "I never felt safer than when I lived above the Parole Board. The Capote papers were stolen by someone I know, not by a parolee".
While building the Pier House, Wolkowsky bought Ballast Key
Ballast Key
Ballast Key is an island in the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is the southernmost point of land in the contiguous United States. It is also the only privately owned land within the boundaries of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge.Located in the Outlying Islands of...
, an uninhabited, private island, 8 miles (12.9 km) off Key West. He built a large house and guest house on the island and entertained many of his writer friends there, including Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
and Capote. He is known for serving hot dogs, white wine and potato chips to guests including British Prime Minister Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, various Rockefellers, Mellons and Vanderbilts. During construction of the island Wolkowsky sent his private barge out to the island loaded with building supplies as well as with chocolate pudding and souffles, from The Pier House kitchens, for his laborers.
Wolkowsky continued to restore dozens of homes around Key West, as well as building the original "Reach Resort" across town. He could always be spotted, wearing several pairs of sunglasses on his head and some hanging from his neck, while driving around town in either his golf cart or his 1926 Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
.
In 2000, Wolkowsky created a Teacher Merit Awards fund, which gives $5,000 to each of nine Key West teachers as well as a $25,000 award to a single teacher each year. About teachers in Key West, Wolkowsky was quoted in the Key West Citizen saying, "They have to be protected and nurtured".
In the mid-1990s, a street adjoining the Key West Historical Society was named "David Wolkowsky Street" in his honor. As of 2011, at the age of 91, Wolkowsky continues to lunch on hot dogs on Ballast Key.