HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1886 Key West house where a doctor practiced medicine for decades — and reportedly still types late at night
511 Eaton St, Key West, FL 33040
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Room rates vary; 14 individually designed guest rooms.
Access
Limited Access
Historic building with original cypress woodwork and multiple floors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1886 · Key West Historic District — National Register of Historic Places · Victorian Greek Revival Architecture · Historic Medical Practice · Ornamental Garden History
The building at 511 Eaton Street was constructed in 1886 by Samuel Otis Johnson, who operated a grocery and butcher shop from the ground floor. A secondary outbuilding served commercial functions before being moved to the rear of the property in the early 1900s for use as a carriage house.
Dr. William Richard Warren, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania medical school, purchased the property in 1913 with his wife Genevieve Allen, whom he had married two years earlier. Warren established his general medical practice in the home's front rooms, with the ground-floor porch serving as a waiting area and the interior spaces as examination rooms. He and Genevieve had three children — George Allen, William R. Jr., and Leonor — raised in the residence.
Genevieve Warren's contribution to the property was the garden, which she developed over decades by importing topsoil from the Florida panhandle to replace Key West's underlying coral rock. She planted orchids and rare tropical specimens that her successors have maintained. She remained in the house until her death in the early 1970s.
In 1937, architect Jack Long undertook a major remodeling of the structure, retaining the original cypress doors and woodwork that remain today. The property holds the tallest cistern in the Florida Keys. It is listed within the Key West Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places and currently operates as a 14-room bed and breakfast.
Sources
The paranormal history of Old Town Manor is tied directly to its documented occupants rather than to anonymous or unverifiable figures — an unusual feature for a Key West haunted property.
Dr. Warren's great-grandson has stated that the doctor typed late at night while working on speeches, a habit that apparently continued beyond his death. Multiple guests and staff members have reported hearing the distinctive mechanical sound of typewriter keys in the hallways during nighttime hours, with the sound coming from empty rooms. The reports predate widespread awareness of the family history, which gives them some credibility as independent observations.
In 2010, a paranormal investigation team from truTV conducted an EVP session in the Garden room — one of the spaces where Dr. Warren saw patients — and reported recording voices that appeared to say 'don't touch me.' The session was filmed, though the provenance of the recording has not been independently verified.
The garden, Genevieve Warren's primary legacy, is the setting for the property's most visually striking paranormal accounts. Guests describe seeing two figures walking together in the early evening — a man in a suit and a woman in formal dress — who move through the garden path and disappear. The combination of detail (the suit, the formal attire, the hand-holding) across reports from guests who had not been briefed on the property's history is notable.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Fourteen individually designed guest rooms in a National Register-listed 1886 structure, featuring original cypress doors and woodwork and Genevieve Warren's cultivated tropical garden. The Veranda and Garden rooms — where Dr. Warren saw patients — are among the most-requested.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Key West, FL
The house at 534 Eaton Street was built between 1890 and 1898 by Thomas Otto as a Queen Anne-style residence. His son Robert Eugene Otto — a painter who studied in New York and Paris — inherited the home and lived there with his wife Anne from 1930 until his death in 1974. The doll known as Robert lived in the home with Gene Otto throughout this period, occupying the turret room in its later years. Following the deaths of Gene and Anne Otto, the property was converted into a guest house in 1978.
Key West, FL
William Curry arrived in Key West from the Bahamas and built his fortune through the salvage trade, working wrecks off the Florida reef and reportedly purchasing salvaged goods at distressed prices. His son Milton demolished the original 1869 house in 1901 to build the Georgian Revival mansion that stands today. It has operated as a bed and breakfast since 1988.
Key West, FL
Francisco Marrero, a cigar maker who built his business through connections to Key West's Cuban tobacco trade, constructed this Victorian mansion in 1890 for Enriquetta, with whom he had eight children. When Marrero died during a trip to Cuba, his first wife — still legally married to him there — claimed all assets. Enriquetta and her children were evicted with no legal recourse.