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Electricity was added to the house around 1899, and plumbing was installed about 1944, when Key West began receiving piped-in water from Florida City. Prior to that date, the islanders collected rainwater in cisterns, two of which are still on the property today. 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. On exhibit are several typewriters that Hemingway used throughout his career, tangible tools of his trade that produced some of his most famous works.
Inside Ernest Hemingway's Key West Home and How It Inspired Many of His Famous Writings - Biography.com
Inside Ernest Hemingway's Key West Home and How It Inspired Many of His Famous Writings.
Posted: Thu, 04 Jun 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The Dixon family: 1961-present
Before the pool, the garden was home to Hemingway’s own personal boxing ring, where he would train and spar with local boxers. Legend has it that whilst Hemingway was away working as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, he fell in love with wife number three, fellow war journalist, Martha Gellhorn. Back in Key West, second wife Pauline Pfeiffer heard about the affair and replaced the author’s beloved boxing ring with the pool out of spite. Hemingway loved art, so it’s fitting that a series of framed paintings and pictures surrounds the fireplace, including one of Hemingway that was hung when the museum opened.
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After a night of drinking, Hemingway and “Sloppy Joe” Russell hand carried the urinal to Hemingway’s home. They placed it next to Pauline’s pool, where it still serves as the water bowl for the family’s cats. About half of the cats at the museum have six or even seven toes on each front paw, but all the cats carry the polydactyl gene and can pass on the trait to their offspring. Bernice Dixon, a local jewelry store owner, bought the house at auction after Hemingway’s death for $80,000.
The Florida Keys: Hemingway House & Museum in Key West
Now a public museum, the two-storey Spanish Colonial house still retains its original limestone façade and reclaimed cheery yellow shutters. In 1939 Hemingway moved from Key West to Cuba, leaving his second wife and children behind. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, following the publication of his novel The Old Man and the Sea.
For book lovers, stepping into Hemingway’s personal studio is sure to be a dream come true. Hemingway wrote some of his most famous works while living in the Florida Keys, including The Green Hills Of Africa, To Have And Have Not and most notably, For Whom The Bell Tolls. Hemingway’s original typewriter, leather writing chair and a collection of treasured novels have been preserved as he left them. For literature enthusiasts, history buffs, and anyone seeking a unique and immersive cultural experience, a visit to the Hemingway House in Key West is an absolute must.
The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is located at 907 Whitehead Street, close to the Key West Lighthouse and Museum. Jerry Joyce has been a Florida resident since 1988 and has lived in a variety of places in the South Florida area. For those unable to visit the museum in person, a wealth of online resources is available.
Ernest Hemingway's Famous Six-Toed Cats Are Safe After Hurricane Irma - Architectural Digest
Ernest Hemingway's Famous Six-Toed Cats Are Safe After Hurricane Irma.
Posted: Tue, 12 Sep 2017 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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. 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.
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Excavating the limestone for the pool was a massive undertaking, and the project cost $20,000 when construction finished in 1938 (that’s about $365,916 in today’s dollars). When Hemingway returned, he famously shouted, “Pauline, you’ve spent all but my last penny, so you might as well have that! A notable spot on the grounds is the swimming pool, which Pauline built when Hemingway was away covering the Spanish Civil War as a correspondent. Although it was his idea to build a pool, he left the oversight of the project to Pauline while he was away.
00am-5:00pm for walk-in visits.
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.
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. Whether it’s a book by the author, a unique piece of memorabilia, or a souvenir to remember the experience, there’s something for everyone in the shop. It’s the perfect place to pick up a piece of Hemingway’s legacy to take home. As visitors step into the writing studio, they can feel the weight of literary history and the power of imagination that emanates from the space. It is a pilgrimage to the heart of Hemingway’s creative process, where ideas were transformed into impactful narratives that continue to resonate with readers around the world.
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. Hemingway’s home was originally built in 1851 by Asa Tift, a former naval architect and sea captain from Groton, Connecticut. Tift owned several stores in Key West, along with ships and a large salvaging operation, making him one of the wealthiest men in the area at the time.
But the house on Whitehead Street in Key West was of particular importance, both in Hemingway’s personal life and in his literary development. 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.
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. He immortalized his favorite haunts and drinking buddies through his writing, most famously in 1937’s To Have and Have Not, a Key West-set novel inspired by a group of local black-market smugglers. Hemingway also built a boxing ring on the property, allowing the self-styled pugilist a place to spar.
She lived in the home until 1964 when she moved into the guest house and opened the main building as a museum. 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.
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