Hemingway House in Key West

Late last year Sharon and I went on a long cruise on the Marina, an Oceania Cruises ship. The first stop was Key West Florida. I went ashore with some literary looking in mind.

While I did some book shopping (both Books and Books and Key West Books are excellent stores) I was most interested in visiting Hemingway House. Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, went to Key West in 1928 and lived in Hemingway House from 1931 - 1939. The house was purchased for them by Pauline’s Uncle Gus.

The home and adjacent carriage house, where he had a writing studio on the second floor, are open to the public. With only a short time available ashore I did not go upon a guided tour. From listening a bit as I moved around the house I wish I could have taken a tour.

There were enough cards and other information that I greatly enjoyed going through the house.

Set in a large yard it is an inviting house. The photo to the right shows the exterior from the yard.

I found the large airy bedroom the most interesting room in the house. Of particular interest were a pair of the resident cats who clearly consider themselves in charge. The photo at the left shows a pair of the cats upon the bed. At the bottom of this post is the view from the bedroom to the top balcony shown on the photo of the outside of the house.

Hemingway was given a 6 toed cat, Snow White, by a ship captain on the Hemingway House website. Some in his family dispute the story. Some of the dozens of cats in residence today trace their lineage back to Snow White.

The highlight of my visit was seeing Hemingway’s writing studio. While visitors are limited to looking through the doorway you can easily view the large room with a modest desk and a typewriter.

It is a wonderful room. I would have found it hard to concentrate as it would be so inviting to sit and read.

During the 11 years Hemingway resided in Key West he wrote extensively including the novel, To Have and Have Not, set in Key West and Cuba.

When he had enough of writing Hemingway could go for a swim in the pool (the first private pool in Key West) just outside the door of the carriage house.

Anyone who enjoys books will find Hemingway House an intriguing place to visit.

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 The Hemingway House website has numerous photos and interesting information https://www.hemingwayhome.com/.