Key West, Florida is famously quirky, and much of it is tacky-touristy. But, in spite of the tacky-touristy part, it is one of my favorite places to visit in Florida. Why? Good food, good times, but mainly because Key West is one of the most historically significant, and historically intriguing, towns in Florida.
In the early 1800’s Key West had a booming industry—salvaging the cargoes of ships smashed on the outlying reefs. Most of the earliest “wreckers” were transient from the Bahamas and Cuba, but following the War of 1812 some small groups of New Englanders from Connecticut and Rhode Island came and settled permanently in Key West. Wrecking was extremely dangerous work and the mortality rate was high, but brave Key Westers could make a healthy living at it—typically retaining at least half the value of the cargo. Wealth accumulated quickly. And the wealthy built elaborate Victorian homes, incorporating the wood-working artistry of turn-of-the-century boat-building craftsmen who occasionally incorporated salvaged pieces from wrecked ships into the homes. By the mid-late 1800’s Key West was the busiest, most-populated, and most-important city in Florida.
In the centuries that followed, Key West managed to reinvent itself time and again. Sponging, cigar making, fishing, tourism, even treasure hunting, have all been industries that have kept Key West afloat.
With that much history it is no surprise that Key West has plenty of famous ghost stories and haunted places. But the scariest haunted-Key-West story has to be that of Robert the (haunted) Doll. Robert currently resides at the Fort East Martello Museum, Key West. And if the tales are to be believed, any personal interaction with Robert could potentially lead to an ill fate for those who interact—sickness, bad financial fortune, failed relationships, even death! At this year’s Fantasy Fest, Key West’s annual Mardi-Gras-style event (I always thought it would be a blast to go but have never been) they have just announced that Robert the Doll will be let out of his glass display case at the museum to participate in the festival as its co-grand marshal! Yikes! I fear a paranormal apocalypse could ensue!
The Key West chapter in my Florida’s Best Bed & Breakfasts and Historic Hotels includes an entry on a quaint and colorful bed & breakfast called the Artist House. This house is where Robert the Doll’s story began.
Excerpt from Florida’s Best Bed & Breakfasts and Historic Hotels:
One of the most photographed houses in Key West is the charming Victorian Artist House, built in 1898 by pharmacist Thomas Otto and his wife Minnie. Charming, yes, and creepy too. The gingerbread-laced wrap-around porches and third-story turret give it the appearance of a life-size doll house—and apparently it was. The Otto’s son Gene (Robert Eugene) was born here in 1900. The quite wealthy Otto family employed servants. Reportedly, one was a nanny (some references indicate she was from Jamaica, some say the Bahamas, some say she practiced voodoo) that Mrs. Otto became disgruntled with and fired. Upon the nanny’s departure she gave four-year-old Gene a gift—a doll dressed up like him, and named Robert. Young Gene became extremely attached to Robert. Reportedly he carried him everywhere and had long conversations with him. Also he would blame Robert for all manner of mischievous occurrences in the house—including tearing up his other toys. Some reports claimed poltergeist activity in the house—furniture moving, doors opening and closing on their own, as well. Gene would grow up to become an accomplished painter, studying in Chicago and living and working in Paris. After his parents died, Gene—along with his wife Anne who he had met in Paris, returned to Key West. They moved back into the house, where he turned the seven-window turret room into his artist’s studio. Gene still had Robert the doll. He propped him up in one of the turret windows, so he could look out over Eaton Street. Passersby say that sometimes Robert would move, turn his head and watch them walk by. They also said that sometimes it seemed that his facial expression would change. Gene Otto died in 1974 and Anne Otto died in 1976. Robert now resides at Key West’s Civil War Fort East Martello Museum, who had hired Gene Otto to design their gallery space.
Today Artist House is a seven-room inn that showcases its classic Queen Anne Victorian style, with twelve-foot ceilings, artfully-carved crown moldings, and etched glass transoms. The most fascinating room, of course, is the Turret Suite, with two levels. Its second-floor bedroom has a sitting area, two baths, French doors that lead onto a balcony, and a winding staircase up into the third-floor tower, with its own bed surrounded by seven windows.
It seems that Robert’s antics moved with him to the museum, but some believe the ghost of Anne Otto is still in the house.
Artist House
Note: I have purposely not included a photo of Robert, for fear of being cursed. But, if you dare, you can find him on the Fort East Martello Museum website.
Bruce Hunt