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Pauline worked for Vogue in Paris, so her tastes were a bit high-faluten for the Florida Keys, but she didn’t mind. She actually removed all the ceiling fans in the house and had them replaced with elaborate chandeliers! She also brought beautiful–and impractical–sofas and loveseats to the home as well, which are still there and still impractical for the region, and overrun with the most spoiled and chill cats you’ll ever see. When he left Cuba in 1960 with his fourth wife, Mary, he knew he’d be back. But the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 cut off his return and separated him from his beloved Pilar.
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Bernice Dixon, a local jewelry store owner, bought the house at auction after Hemingway’s death for $80,000. She lived in the home until 1964 when she moved into the guest house and opened the main building as a museum. 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. Tickets include an optional 30-minute guided tour of the house and grounds, but you’re welcome to explore the property on your own.
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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. You find many more interesting things to do in Key West near Ernest Hemingway House & Museum. Key West Lighthouse & Keeper’s Quarters Museum is located just across the street from the Hemingway House. During a tour your guide tells you about all the stages of Hemingway’s life. As the house is shown interesting events and facts from the beginning to the end are told.
The Legend of the Pilar
And the story about Hemingway is both informative and entertaining. The second fountain is a Hemingway-era one, and comes with a humorous story. When Joe Russell, Hemingway’s buddy and the owner of Sloppy Joe’s moved his establishment, he enlisted the help of his patrons to transport the contents of the bar to its new location. Hemingway would sometimes joke that he chose the location of the house because of its proximity to the lighthouse. On drunken evenings returning from his favorite bar, Sloppy Joe’s, he’d never get lost making his way home.
The cats don’t seem to mind their human visitors and enjoy pets and scratches from their adoring fans. His writing studio at the home was on the second floor of the converted carriage house. The only typewriter on the property that Hemingway actually used sits on the desk. During his time in Key West, Hemingway wrote many notable books and short stories, including Green Hills of Africa, Death in the Afternoon, To Have and Have Not, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
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Everyone in The Mob had a nickname, and Hemingway was often referred to by his friends and family during this time was “Papa”—it was a moniker that eventually stuck with him throughout his life. Hemingway’s Key West was a town unlike any place he ever experienced. It was filled with interesting people, ranging from well-to-do businessmen and lawyers, to down-on-their-luck fishermen, to shipwreck salvagers.
Hemingway’s Bar Scene
Just remember, you may pet the cats, play with the cats, and photograph the cats, but please don’t pick them up. If you choose docent-guided, you can also come back through on your own to take a closer look, spend more time in any of the rooms, or lie in wait for the perfect cat-inclusive photos. Pilar was docked at Cojimar, a small fishing village east of Havana, which was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. My name is Lynda and I am a recovering sugar addict and travel junkie. I’m also a mom of two children & 2 dogs, wife of 1….and a messy cook taking life one bite at a time.
The home remained in Ernest Hemingway’s possession until he died in 1961. 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. 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. For a literary retreat like no other, step back in time to the Hemingway Key West days!
Ernest Hemingway lived an exciting life and the guides do a great job telling the story. So expect a few laughs along the way as you tour the Hemingway house. Ernest Hemingway lived in the house in Key West from 1931 to 1939.
The Hemingways quickly became part of a group of American expatriates who poured into the French capital in the decade after WWI, including F. Dubbed the “Lost Generation,” they wrote, painted and composed by day, and drank, debated and caroused the City of Lights by night. 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 pool has a mammoth 80,784 gallon capacity, and at the time of installation there was no fresh running water in Key West. Accordingly, in 1938, pool construction involved drilling down to the salt-water table and installing a water pump to retrieve salt water to fill the pool.
To make the most of every visit the general admission fee includes a 30-minute guided tour. The tour takes you around the extremely well kept Hemingway property in Key West. Imagine the stories that they would tell about the previous occupants. Imagine the parties on those porches and then around the pool once built. The story about the urinal truly made me smile - classic Hemingway. 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).
Whether your tour guide looks like Ernest Hemingway or not, you will learn a lot about the great writer, his wives, his time in Cuba, and so much more. While you can explore the home on your own, we recommend that you go on one of the guided tours. One of the things you may first notice is the remarkable resemblance of some of the staff members to the writer. Mary was able to return to Finca Vigia to retrieve some of Hemingway’s belongings, but the house itself soon fell into disrepair.
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Not all the cats actually have six toes (about half of them do), but they all carry the gene, so they could have six-toed kittens, even if they don’t have six toes themselves. They’re all well-cared for, and their personal vet makes sure they’re healthy. Located at 907 Whitehead Street, the Hemingway Key West residence still stands and welcomes thousands of fans from all over. 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. 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.
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. After two seasons in Key West, Pauline’s Uncle Gus purchased the house on Whitehead Street for them in 1931.
These cats are descendants of the cat Snow White that a ship captain once gave to Hemingway. The Hemingway house in Key West was a gift to Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline from the latter’s well off uncle. Originally the Key West house was built in 1851 from rock and in Spanish Colonial style.
The photo above shows Hemingway atop that flying bridge as Pilar pulls out of Havana harbor. Regardless of the legend behind the pool, it was an architectural feat in 1937. To construct the first in-ground pool in Key West, solid coral had to be excavated with picks and sledgehammers. The only pool within 100 miles, it measured 24 feet by 60 feet and was filled with 80,000+ gallons of salt water which had to be drilled because there was no running water (at the time). The Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida is full of interesting stories and even some legends. Key West afforded Hemingway the opportunity to enjoy the sport fishing that he loved so much.
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