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This home-turned-museum displays Hemingway’s personal belongings and the environment where he wrote several notable works. 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 Hemingway Home as a Museum
From there I stand on the veranda and gaze down at the swimming pool, the first swimming pool in the city, and beyond that to the bungalow where, surrounded by animal heads and stuffed fish, he wrote in longhand. Writers have always loved the Keys, none more famous than Ernest Hemingway, who bought a beautiful Spanish colonial home at 907 Whitehead Street in 1931 and stayed eight years. The site where the pool is located was formerly the setting of Hemingway’s famous boxing ring, where he would spar with local amateur boxers such as Shine Forbes. Construction of the pool necessitated relocation of the boxing ring to the site now occupied by the Blue Heaven Restaurant on Petronia Street, a few blocks away. One of the more stunning and unusual features of the Hemingway Home property is the in-ground swimming pool, an extraordinary luxury for a residential home in 1930s Key West.
The Ernest Hemingway Key West home
After two seasons in Key West, Pauline’s Uncle Gus purchased the house on Whitehead Street for them in 1931. 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. Built in 1851 by the owner of a local ship salvage company, the house sat on one of the largest private lots in the city, and, thanks to its high elevation and sturdy construction, could withstand even the fiercest of storms. Ernest Hemingway was given a white six-toed cat by a ship’s captain and some of the cats who live on the museum grounds are descendants of that original cat, named Snow White. Key West is a small island and it is possible that many of the cats on the island are related.
The Hemingway Home Grounds and Architecture
Both a journalist and writer, Hemingway published seven novels; six collections of short stories, and two works of non-fiction. For his novel The Old Man and the Sea, he won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. The Ernest Hemingway House and Museum property is famous for its population of polydactyl, or six-toed cats. The cats at the museum today are “living history” in a sense, as they are direct descendants of Hemingway’s own cats.
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Large, round-top windows shine plenty of light into the striking yellow and black upstairs bathroom. Cement tiles patterned in a bird and fish motif add a dash of whimsy into the utilitarian space, while antique furniture pieces are reminiscent of the early twentieth century. Hemingway’s bathroom was one of the first on the island to be furnished with indoor plumbing and running water. Your choice of any book published by the Florida Historical Society Press. The electronic edition of The Florida Historical Quarterly, our award winning journal. Access to the Quarterly will be available once staff has processed your Membership (generally 3 business days).
Influence and legacy
The home, now a museum, provides visitors a window into Hemingway’s life and writings, the very walls echoing with the history of his storied career. Soon after arrival, Hemingway made the acquaintance of Charles Thompson, who ran the local hardware store. Charles Thompson introduced Hemingway to the exciting world of big game sport fishing, and a long friendship was born. Charles and his wife Lorine entertained the Hemingways at their home on Fleming Street. 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.
Hemingway’s Influence on Literature
Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, in mid-1961, he died by suicide.
After Snowball had a litter of kittens, the captain gifted Hemingway with one whom he named Snow White. 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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She may enjoy having visitors who come to see the exhibits of her beloved’s work and his artifacts, as she is still his biggest fan. Ernest Hemingway’s spirit has chosen to stay earth-bound, and make this lovely Key West house his afterlife home. Spirits who decide to spend their afterlife in their favorite place in this world, often continue what they loved to do the best while alive. People who take their own lives sometimes stay in this world, choosing to look for the peace they weren’t experiencing while alive. Couples who while alive have troubled relationships sometimes work on them in their afterlives so that they can co-occupy the same space. Things changed in Key West during the Great Depression, which hit Key West hard.
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. In the garden, in a grove of bamboo, I sprawl across the bench and open the book.
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 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 old man and his sea: How Ernest Hemingway’s Key West home spawned some of his finest work - Fox News
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If you board the free Duval Loop Bus, get off at stop number 8 for Whitehead & Petronia. Hemingway’s affair with fellow journalist Pauline Pfeiffer led to the collapse of his marriage to Richardson and their divorce in 1927. He married Pfeiffer soon after, and the pair decided to return to America when she became pregnant with the first of their two sons. Writer and friend John Dos Passos recommended Key West, in the southern end of the Florida Keys. Located just 90 miles from Cuba, the region’s welcoming weather and laid-back, permissive atmosphere seemed tailor-made for Hemingway.
Ernest Hemingway lived in his Key West house in the 1930s and wrote many books while he did so. Hemingway’s time in Key West was in fact one of the most prolific periods of his writing career. Today, the beautiful Ernest Hemingway Key West Home & Museum is open for visitors to come and see how he lived. 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. The Ernest Hemingway House also serves as a tribute to the author’s immense influence in the literary world.
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A variety of memorabilia and ephemera related to Hemingway are on display, such as personal letters, fishing gear, and awards. 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. The Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West houses an extensive array of Ernest Hemingway’s personal items, each providing insight into the life and work of one of America’s most celebrated writers. Ernest Hemingway’s influence extends far beyond his published works, with his former home in Key West, Florida, serving as a museum that immortalizes his contribution to literature and provides insight into his personal life. The couple lived on-and-off in Key West for several years (spending summers in Wyoming), before finally putting down more permanent roots in 1931. Pfeiffer found a house for sale at auction, and her uncle purchased it for $8,000 (approximately $134,00 today) as a belated wedding gift.
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