Key West is an old town and most of the houses are wooden. The weather and salt air and humidity and sun all do a number on wood and in a lot of other Florida cities you see houses made of concrete and stucco which are very practical but not as picturesque and not authentic of original Florida housing. Another feature of the old houses is the gingerbread.
gingerbread
1: a cake whose ingredients include molasses and ginger
2: [from the fancy shapes and gilding formerly often applied to gingerbread] : lavish or superfluous ornament especially in architecture
This time of year we think of gingerbread cookies, but in the Key West houses, I am talking about the architectural term. Just imagine the work and craftsmanship it took to cut out all those shapes by hand many years ago. Walking down any street in Old Town is like walking through an art gallery and museum all rolled into one.
