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Lorine Thompson proved to be as friendly and gracious as her husband Charles, and it was during those early days in Key West she and Pauline forged a friendship that would endure for the rest of their lives. Both Ernest and Pauline grew to love Key West and its inhabitants, and soon decided to look for a permanent residence. After two seasons in Key West, Pauline’s Uncle Gus purchased the house on Whitehead Street for them in 1931. 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.
Hemingway’s Personal Library
She used the perfect mix of humor and history to keep our group entertained and engaged while we learned about the house and Hemingway’s time in Key West. Those tourists bothered him, knocked on his door, distracted him from his writing. For a literary retreat like no other, step back in time to the Hemingway Key West days! You can’t get closer to the work and life of Hemingway than by stepping back in time here in Key West. To take your Hemingway adventure one step further, weddings can also be held at the Hemingway Home and Museum.
Museum Shops and Souvenirs
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. Until the 1940s when Key West first had fresh water piped in and the pool was converted to a fresh water system, the pool was very high maintenance. Using the salt-water pump, it took two to three days to completely fill the pool. During the summer months, the salt water would remain fresh for only about two to three days. Then the pool would need to be completely drained, another day or two would be required to scrub down and remove the algae and debris, and then the cycle would start again.
The Swimming Pool Legend
Returning time and time again to hunt, fish, write, Hemingway established a permanent residence in the Valley before his death in 1961. Enjoy the beauty of the Wood River Valley as Hemingway once did – grab cocktail at one of his favorite local watering holes, fish the same grounds he once explored, or visit his final resting place at the Ketchum Cemetery. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms.
The Contradictions of Hemingway's House in Cuba - The New Yorker
The Contradictions of Hemingway's House in Cuba.
Posted: Thu, 21 Dec 2017 08:00:00 GMT [source]
These structures adhere to the home’s Spanish Colonial style and are strategically placed to maintain the integrity of the overall design. Key West, Florida, offered Hemingway a retreat where he penned notable manuscripts. His time here included frequent visits to Sloppy Joe’s, a local bar, and his experiences in the Florida Keys and Cuba influenced many of his novels.
Hemingway continued his Paris habits of writing during the early mornings, and taking time to explore his surroundings in the afternoons. In the late summer that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the trees. Ernest Hemingway was born on the second floor of a Queen Anne-style house at 339 North Oak Park Avenue in July 1899. Practically from the start, he longed to escape the “wide lawns and narrow minds” of the western Chicago suburbs, and often accompanied his father on long hunting trips.
Hemingway lived in the home with his wife and their two sons from 1931 until 1939. When Hemingway left for Cuba in 1939 to pursue another relationship, Pauline stayed in the home and lived there until her death in 1951. Tift owned the home until his death in 1889, living in it alone for much of his life after the death of his wife and two sons from yellow fever in the 1850s, and his daughter’s passing in 1869. The home’s location is on the second-highest point on Key West, about 16 feet (4.88 m) above sea level. Tift chose an elevated spot in order to excavate limestone from the property to construct the house. The excavation also allowed for a basement under the home, a rarity on Key West.

World War II
This collection not only highlights Hemingway’s achievements and hobbies but also helps contextualize his place within the literary world and the broader historical events of his time. Ernest Hemingway was gifted a white six-toed cat named Snow White in the 1930s by a ship’s captain. This breed, known for its polydactylism, was thought to bring good luck by sailors. Polydactyl cats are not a specific breed, rather they are defined by their multiple toes; most cats have five front toes and four back toes, while polydactyl cats may have as many as eight. During his time in Key West, Hemingway wrote many notable books and short stories, including Green Hills of Africa, Death in the Afternoon, To Have and Have Not, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
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From “A Farewell to Arms” to “The Old Man and the Sea,” this space holds the energy and inspiration of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Visitors can catch a glimpse of this sacred space through a screen, gaining a deeper appreciation for Hemingway’s creative process. After touring the house, make sure to visit the museum’s shop, where you can find a range of items related to Hemingway and Key West. From books and souvenirs to unique treasures inspired by the author’s life and works, the shop offers a chance to bring a piece of Hemingway’s legacy home with you. Whether you’re a fan of his writing or simply curious about the man behind the words, the Hemingway House tour is a must-do experience for visitors to Key West.
The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West is a national historic landmark where one can explore the life and work of the famous author. This section guides you through tours, operating hours, ticket details, shopping options, and events including weddings. His writing studio at the home was on the second floor of the converted carriage house.
This room became his refuge, a place where he could focus his thoughts and immerse himself in his storytelling. The museum provides guided educational tours that cater to both school groups and individuals seeking to learn about Hemingway’s life, his literature, and his influence. Tour guides offer detailed insights into Hemingway’s years spent in Key West, with a particular emphasis on how the location impacted his writing. On exhibit are several typewriters that Hemingway used throughout his career, tangible tools of his trade that produced some of his most famous works. Original manuscripts and early drafts showcase Hemingway’s writing process, his revisions, and his thoughts as he created stories that would captivate readers for generations.
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. To this day, the Hemingway House remains the largest residential property on Key West. 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. One of the six-toed "Hemingway cats" at the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West.
Ernest’s presence can still be felt in his studio where he produced some of his most well-known works. In addition, a very visible and living link to the past are the descendants of Hemingway’s cats. The story goes that Hemingway made the acquaintance of a sea captain who owned an unusual six-toed tomcat, which captured Ernest’s fancy. Upon his departure from Key West, the captain presented the cat to Hemingway. Today many of the numerous cats that inhabit the grounds still possess the unusual six toes. Aside from the house itself, the museum also features a shop where visitors can find a range of items related to Hemingway and Key West.
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