Inside Ernest Hemingway's Key West Home and How It Inspired Many of His Famous Writings
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One of the highlights of the museum is the opportunity to explore Hemingway’s former residence. Walking through the rooms where he lived and worked, I could almost imagine the creative energy that must have filled the space. From his writing studio in the converted carriage house to the iconic living room adorned with mementos from his fishing adventures, every corner of the house is steeped in literary history.
Vacation in the Hemingway Key West Days
The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum located at 907 Whitehead Street allows visitors to explore Hemingway’s residence from 1931 to 1939. This home-turned-museum displays Hemingway’s personal belongings and the environment where he wrote several notable works. In the 1930s, sea captain Stanley Dexter gave Ernest Hemingway a white six-toed cat named Snow White. Currently, the Hemingway House and property is home to between 40 and 50 polydactyl cats, some of which are descendant from the original white cat.
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Pauline Pfeiffer and Hemingway’s Life in Key West
Hemingway’s first cat, Snowball, was a polydactyl cat with six toes on her front paws and five toes on her back. At times as many as 30 cats descended from Snowball had the run of the place. Descendants of Snowball descendants, at least 50 or so, have the run of the place now – those weird, six-toed cats that are a favorite of tourists. 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. 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.
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Born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway grew up in a comfortable, but fractious, family. Childhood trips to the remote woods of Michigan inspired his fascination with nature and a lifelong quest for adventure, including his passion for hunting and fishing. Interested in writing from an early age, he began his career as a journalist, working as a reporter in the Midwest.
Visitors to the Hemingway House have the unique opportunity to step back in time and immerse themselves in the world of Ernest Hemingway. As they explore the various rooms of the house, visitors can gain insights into the author’s writing process, personal life, and the inspirations behind his literary masterpieces. The museum’s collection of personal photographs, memorabilia, and artifacts further enriches the experience, providing a comprehensive look into Hemingway’s life and works. Surrounded by the tranquility of the Hemingway House and the lush greenery of Key West, it’s easy to see how this studio served as the birthplace of literary masterpieces.
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According to legend, a fellow sailor and ship captain gifted Hemingway with a male cat with six toes named Snow Ball. Polydactyl cats were popular among sailors for their both their rat-hunting skills and as a supposed source of good luck. Hemingway continued to travel throughout the 1930s for both work and pleasure.
The Ernest Hemingway House and Museum in Key West
She lived in the home until 1964 when she moved into the guest house and opened the main building as a museum. But its charm caught the eye of Ernest and Pauline Hemingway when they visited Key West in 1928, the year after their marriage. When Pauline saw that the property would be auctioned in 1931, her uncle Gus purchased the home for $8000 and gave it to the couple as a belated wedding gift. The house was the first in Key West to have an upstairs bath with running water (fed by the cistern on the roof), and one of the first with modern plumbing. It was also the first with a swimming pool, installed by Hemingway’s second wife Pauline in 1938.
Their tour guides can tell you all about the history of the home and Hemingway’s many adventures in Key West while you roam his house and gardens, among the more than forty cats who now claim this place as home. After renting an apartment and then house with his second wife Pauline, Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway began to call Key West home. For Hemingway Key West was where he wrote much of his classic A Farewell to Arms, became a frequent customer at the bars downtown and set out on big game fishing adventures in the Key West waters. The Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida is full of interesting stories and even some legends. Hemingway’s time at Finca Vigia long outlasted his brief, tempestuous marriage to Gellhorn. They divorced after five years, thanks in part to mutual infidelity and Hemingway’s resentment of her flourishing career.
World War II
The museum grounds also feature a cat cemetery, where many of the property’s former feline residents rest. This area serves as a testament to the close-knit nature of the home’s community of cats and the care afforded to them over the years. It also acts as a historical record, with many of the tombstones dating back decades, inscribed with the names of these beloved pets, marking their place in the legacy of the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. The Ernest Hemingway House also serves as a tribute to the author’s immense influence in the literary world. The house has been preserved with much of its original furniture and artwork, giving visitors an idea of what life may have been like for Hemingway during his time there.
Although the tour focused on the writer’s Key West years, our tour guide JL mixed in a bit of Hemingway’s life before and after this period for context. His multiple marriages and affairs, accident-prone nature, and family history of mental health issues certainly shaped his life. Located at 907 Whitehead Street, the Hemingway Key West residence still stands and welcomes thousands of fans from all over.
The Hemingway House tour takes you through the various rooms of the house, allowing you to immerse yourself in the author’s life and get a glimpse into his creative process. Ernest Miller Hemingway (/ˈɜːrnɪst ˈhɛmɪŋweɪ/; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
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. 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.
Hemingway did many of best writing works while living in this house, including the popular short story classics, ‘The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber’ and ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’. The house has been built in an elevated place in the island at 16’ above sea level. Asa Tift, a salvage wrecker and marine architect built this house originally in a southern colonial mansion style and he quarried the limestone out of the site itself. The construction of Tift is so strong, the deep foundation is so powerful, and the location is just right and hence the house has survived many hurricanes and has remained dry. It’s an iconic piece of literary history that offers visitors the chance to learn about one of America’s greatest writers – and the cats that made him smile. From exploring the grounds to learning more about his wives, there is something for everyone at this unique Florida attraction.
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