ERNEST HEMINGWAY HOUSE

The 'Ernest Hemingway House' was the residence of author Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Florida, United States. It is located at 907 Whitehead Street, near a prominent lighthouse close to the Southern coast of the island. On November 24, 1968, it was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark. It is maintained as a public museum.

Contents

History

Gallery

References

External links

History

This was Hemingway's home from 1931 to 1940, and from 1951 to 1961.
It is a museum now populated with six and seven-toed cats (population kept at about 50 by the curators, about half showing the particular trait of this form of polydactyl cat). Legend has it that Hemingway brought the first six-toed cat (Snowball) over from Cuba, but this is disputed by his descendents. ^[1] Another story is that Hemingway was given the cat by a ship's captain.
It was in this house that he did some of his best work, including the final draft to "A Farewell to Arms," and the short story classics "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."
The house stands at an elevation of 16 feet above sea level, but is still the second-highest site on the island. It was originally built by Asa Tift, a marine architect and salvage wrecker, in 1851 in colonial southern mansion style, out of limestone quaried from the site. As testiment to its construction and location, it survived many hurricanes, and the deep basement remained, and remains, dry. ^[2] The house was one of the first on the island to be fitted with indoor plumbing, and the first on the island to have an upstairs bathroom with running water, fed from a roof rain cistern. Also notable are a built-in fireplace, and the first swimming pool in Key West, and the only pool within 100 miles in the late 30's. Hemingway's second wife, Pauline, spent $20,000 to have the deep well-fed pool built for her husband while he was away as a Spanish Civil War correspondent in 1938. When Hemingway returned, he was reportedly unpleasantly surprised by the cost, and exclaimed: "Well, you might as well have my last cent." This penny is embedded in concrete today near the pool. ^[3]
In 1935, when the visitor bureau included the house in a tourist brochure, Hemingway promptly built the high brick wall that surrounds it today. ^[4]
Another of Hemingway's loves was boxing. He set up a ring in his yard and paid local fighters to box with him as well as refereeing matches at Blue Heaven, then a saloon but now a restaurant, at 729 Thomas Street.
The grounds of the house are maintained as a garden, with many tropical plants originally placed by the Hemingways. On the grounds, the cats still drink from a decorated cat-fountain which is in part made from a recycled pissoir from Hemingway's favorite bar on the island, Sloppy Joe's.
The house was originally purchased by Hemingway for $8,000; when he sold it shortly before his death in 1961 it sold for $80,000, 10 times its original cost.

Gallery

References

1. Hemingway's Key West home a mix of writer's life, legend, CNN.com
2. Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, Key West, MyTravelGuide.com
3. [1]
4. Key West Features | Fodor's Online Travel Guide | Hemingway was here, Fodors.com


★ MuseumRegister:Ernest Hemingway House Museum, Key West, Florida

External links

★ Hemingway, Ernest, House at National Historic Landmarks Program

★ Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs

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★ Monroe County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs

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★ Ernest Hemingway House

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★ Famous Floridians of Key West