Table Of Content
Scholars and literary experts lead these sessions, fostering a deeper understanding of literary techniques and historical contexts. Key West, Florida, offered Hemingway a retreat where he penned notable manuscripts. His time here included frequent visits to Sloppy Joe’s, a local bar, and his experiences in the Florida Keys and Cuba influenced many of his novels. Pauline Pfeiffer, Hemingway’s second wife, played a significant role in his life during their time in Key West.
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Ernest Hemingway's Florida home intact and property's 59 cats are safe after Hurricane Ian - Fox Business
Ernest Hemingway's Florida home intact and property's 59 cats are safe after Hurricane Ian.
Posted: Thu, 29 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Ernest Hemingway was gifted a white six-toed cat named Snow White in the 1930s by a ship’s captain. This breed, known for its polydactylism, was thought to bring good luck by sailors. Polydactyl cats are not a specific breed, rather they are defined by their multiple toes; most cats have five front toes and four back toes, while polydactyl cats may have as many as eight.
The Hemingway Home as a Museum
Our short tour outside focused on just the highlights of the grounds, but our guide encouraged us to explore the property as much as we liked after the guided portion of our visit. You won’t get a full history of Hemingway’s life and body of work on this 30-minute tour. But even those completely unaware of his story or his impact on American literature will leave with a basic understanding of the legend of this complex man.
Personal Artifacts & Photographs
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. But its charm caught the eye of Ernest and Pauline Hemingway when they visited Key West in 1928, the year after their marriage. When Pauline saw that the property would be auctioned in 1931, her uncle Gus purchased the home for $8000 and gave it to the couple as a belated wedding gift.
Catlas Obscura
His contributions to literature include classics like A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. I love sharing my best cruise tips with you, along with reviews of cruise destinations, shore excursions, cruise ships and cruise lines. Our tour of the two-story, 3000-square-foot Spanish Colonial began downstairs in the parlor. This sun-filled room is full of Hemingway memorabilia from various periods along with furniture Pauline collected when she lived in Paris.
Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum
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. His hard-partying ways even came home with him, quite literally, in the form of a urinal, drunkenly carried home from Sloppy Joe’s Bar and installed in his backyard, which is still working as a water fountain today. Hemingway also built a boxing ring on the property, allowing the self-styled pugilist a place to spar. Born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway grew up in a comfortable, but fractious, family.
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. 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. The esteemed novelist first learned of the island city from longtime friend John Dos Passos, who told Hemingway and his wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, that they would love it. Hemingway and his wife left Cuba in 1960, following Fidel Castro’s overthrow of the Batista government (although the left-leaning Hemingway’s sympathies were with the revolutionaries).
The only typewriter on the property that Hemingway actually used sits on the desk. 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.
Ernest’s presence can still be felt in his studio where he produced some of his most well-known works. In addition, a very visible and living link to the past are the descendants of Hemingway’s cats. The story goes that Hemingway made the acquaintance of a sea captain who owned an unusual six-toed tomcat, which captured Ernest’s fancy. Upon his departure from Key West, the captain presented the cat to Hemingway.
As in Key West, Hemingway happily held court, in a home filled with mementos and items that the notorious pack-rat refused to throw out, and surrounded by a gaggle of cats. Several years earlier, he’d met journalist Martha Gellhorn while she was vacationing in Key West. Pfeiffer would remain in the Key West home until her death in 1951, and the house would later be sold by the Hemingway sons after their father’s death. As he had been in Key West, Hemingway seemed inspired by his new surroundings, writing works such as For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea, and receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. The Hemingway house in Key West was a gift to Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline from the latter’s well off uncle.
I’m also a mom of two children & 2 dogs, wife of 1….and a messy cook taking life one bite at a time. 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. In addition to its historical significance, the Ernest Hemingway House also serves as a reminder of one of America’s most iconic authors and his lasting impact on literature. The property layout includes several outbuildings that serve as functional extensions of the main house. These structures adhere to the home’s Spanish Colonial style and are strategically placed to maintain the integrity of the overall design. Hemingway’s literary contributions included a distinctive style characterized by understated dialogue and a focus on stoic, masculine characters.
We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
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