Thursday, May 2, 2024

Visiting the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West

ernest hemingway's house in key west florida

The trait can appear in any breed, Calicos, Tabbies, Tortoise Shell, White, Black, etc. This house-turned-museum at 907 Whitehead Street, which once brimmed with Hemingway’s creative spirit, now opens its doors daily to the public, offering guided tours and a glimpse into the author’s Key West lifestyle. Within these walls, Hemingway penned literary classics such as “A Farewell to Arms” and “To Have and Have Not,” the latter inspired by the surroundings of the Depression-era Florida Keys.

Florida Historical Society

He certainly followed a rogueish pattern of meeting women, falling desperately in love, and marrying them soon after the last wife served him with divorce papers. Asa Tift was a slave owner, and enslaved people likely were the primary labor source for the excavation, stone cutting, and construction of the home. The Ernest Hemingway house in Key West is nearly 170 years old, but has been preserved to look much as it did when Hemingway lived there for nine years in the 1930s.

Pauline Pfeiffer and Hemingway’s Life in Key West

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It was his private residence from 1931 to 1939 and provides an insight into the literary genius who lived there with his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer, during some of the most productive years of his career. Ernest Hemingway’s home in Key West, Florida is as much a sanctuary for literary history as it is for the famous six-toed cats that roam its gardens. The Hemingway Home & Museum is home to approximately 50 polydactyl, or six-toed, cats, which are descendants of Hemingway’s original cat, Snow White. The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, a treasured National Historic Landmark located on Whitehead Street in Key West, Florida, offers visitors a rich architectural and horticultural experience. This section elaborates on the distinctive Spanish Colonial style of the residence, the meticulously tended gardens, the notable in-ground pool, and the layout of the outbuildings that complement the property. And Ernest did complain mightily about the growing expenses of construction costs.

FHSAI Magazine

To quote Hemingway, “One cat just leads to another.”  Walking around the property you will see how accurate this is as descendants of that original cat freely roam the property. And just as the famous author once did, the cats are named after famous people. Regardless of the legend behind the pool, it was an architectural feat in 1937. To construct the first in-ground pool in Key West, solid coral had to be excavated with picks and sledgehammers. The only pool within 100 miles, it measured 24 feet by 60 feet and was filled with 80,000+ gallons of salt water which had to be drilled because there was no running water (at the time).

Ernest Hemingway’s Works Written in Key West

Among the most famous works that Hemingway completed in the Key West estate include were Death in The Afternoon, The Green Hills of Africa, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and To Have and Have Not. It was in this ornate, Spanish-style house that Hemingway wrote his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms, as well as parts of Death in the Afternoon, Green Hills of Africa, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. When Hemingway moved from Paris to Key West in the mid-1920s on the advice of fellow writer John Dos Passos, he was a well-known author but not yet a legend.

- The Family -

All FHS members receive our newsletter, The Society Report, a 10% discount at our Florida Books & Gifts bookstore in Cocoa Village, and early notice of special events, including our Annual Meeting & Symposium. Hemingway was inspired by the folklore legend to begin collecting the polydactyl cats. A photo in the dining room of the Hemingway House and Museum shows the writer’s sons Gregory and Patrick holding Snowball, the first of the family’s six-toed cats. The experience covers 2 people who will have a guided tour and exclusive access to the writing studio where Hemingway wrote many of his greatest works. The Ernest Hemingway House, located in Key West, Florida, is a National Historic Landmark and museum dedicated to the life and works of famed American author and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Ernest Hemingway.

The Tift family: 1851-1931

The Hemingway Home & Museum offers a diverse range of educational opportunities designed for learners of all ages, focusing on the life and works of Ernest Hemingway. From in-person tours to workshops and a variety of online resources, the museum serves as a critical point of learning and engagement for students, writers, and enthusiasts. The personal library collection of Ernest Hemingway contains books that influenced and reflected his interests, both as a reader and a writer. The volumes range from classic literature to contemporary works during Hemingway’s time, many containing annotations and marginalia that give unique insight into Hemingway’s mind and reading habits. Imagine the stories that they would tell about the previous occupants.

Hemingway’s Influence on Literature

Hemingway’s bathroom was one of the first on the island to be furnished with indoor plumbing and running water. The former home of Ernest Hemingway is located at 907 Whitehead Street on the island of Key West in Florida. From the Key West house famous Hemingway works written include The Green Hills of Africa, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Death in The Afternoon and to Have and Have Not. Writer John Dos Passos suggested to Hemingway that he might enjoy Key West, Florida, and in March 1928, Hemingway visited the island for the first time. My name is Lynda and I am a recovering sugar addict and travel junkie.

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A two-month African safari in 1933 left him dangerously ill but provided both the inspiration for his famed short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and trunks full of animal trophies, put on display in Key West. When Hemingway left to report on the Spanish Civil War in 1937, Pfeiffer decided to surprise him by building a pool, the first to be built on Key West. Pfeiffer, well acquainted with her husband’s often unstable moods, calmly had the penny embedded in concrete, forever immortalizing his outburst. Hemingway helped make Key West famous, and he and the city became almost impossibly intertwined during his years there.

Hidden behind a fortress-like old brick wall is this grand home where he wrote many of his most famous works. Located at the corner of Whitehead and Olivia St. is the former residence of revered American novelist Ernest Hemingway. The Ernest Hemingway Home is located in Old Town Key West at 907 Whitehead Street, approximately 0.8 miles from Mallory Square. If you board the free Duval Loop Bus, get off at stop number 8 for Whitehead & Petronia. Ernest Hemingway was married four times, and each of his wives influenced his writing.

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When Hemingway’s second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, found the home that the couple would move in to, it was boarded up and abandoned, but she could see it’s potential. The property was on the highest point in Key West, across the street from the island’s lighthouse. The museum displays a remarkable collection of Hemingway’s personal artifacts and photographs. These items offer visitors an intimate glimpse into Hemingway’s life in Key West, including his family life with his second wife, Pauline, and their children. Photographic displays capture moments from their domestic lives, travels, and Hemingway’s social circles. The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum located at 907 Whitehead Street allows visitors to explore Hemingway’s residence from 1931 to 1939.

ernest hemingway's house in key west florida

It was also the first with a swimming pool, installed by Hemingway’s second wife Pauline in 1938. Tickets include an optional 30-minute guided tour of the house and grounds, but you’re welcome to explore the property on your own. Hemingway lived in this house from 1931 to 1939, years during which he wrote some of his greatest novels as well as short stories and poems.

ernest hemingway's house in key west florida

Ernest Hemingway lived an exciting life and the guides do a great job telling the story. To make the most of every visit the general admission fee includes a 30-minute guided tour. The tour takes you around the extremely well kept Hemingway property in Key West. The Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida is full of interesting stories and even some legends.

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is home to approximately 60 polydactyl (six-toed) cats. Most cats have extra toes on their front feet and sometimes on their back feet as well. Sometimes it looks as if they are wearing mittens because they appear to have a thumb on their paw.

While visiting the Hemingway home, guests are likely to spot some of the polydactyl cats that have lived there since Ernest’s time. Captain Harold Stanley Dexter sailed to Key West with his white six-toed cat, Snowball. After Snowball had a litter of kittens, the captain gifted Hemingway with one whom he named Snow White. The two-story house was built in 1851 in a Spanish Colonial style with an open courtyard and fountain surrounded by lush tropical plants. The house is filled with artifacts from Hemingway’s life, including old photographs, letters, books, furniture, and even the typewriter he used to write some of his most famous works.

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