Visiting Ernest Hemingway’s house tops everyone’s list of things to do in Key West. Year after year, the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum has received travellers from everywhere who are curious about the literary giant’s famous island house. In the center of Old Town Key West, this literary landmark has become the heart of its island’s mystique. Hemingway owned his Key West home until his death in 1961.
In 1961, the iconic Key West site was sold to the Hemingway museum’s founder Bernice Dickson. Dickson created a lasting tribute to the late writer’s life in Key West. Among the many artifacts of Hemingway’s life the museum founder left preserved is a population of over forty polydactyl, or six-toed, felines known worldwide as the Hemingway cats. They roam the beautiful landscape. Some of these furry residents have a lineage traced directly back to Ernest’s own six-toed cat Snowball.
Gorgeous and lush estate grounds at the Hemingway museum retain the mark of the author. A urinal found during remodelling at a local restaurant which Hemingway had converted into a fountain remains preserved as a centerpiece in the yard and water source for the Hemingway cats. Although the stunning gardens were installed once the author moved on to Cuba, Hemingway returned often to take in the growing scenery. Today, his Key West gardens are a fully developed exotic botanical paradise.
Inside, visitors marvel at Hemingway’s personal book collection which has been kept intact over the decades. Cats dart from one room to another or watch guests from bookshelves. High literature, island life and 19th century Spanish architecture melt together and a cozy elegance emanates from each room. If Hemingway’s converted urinal fountain is a centerpiece of the grounds outside, the dining room’s Murano glass chandelier is the jewel-like focus of the home’s interior. The living room is decorated with furniture shipped to Key West by Hemingway’s wife Pauline, including a 17th century Spanish chest.
The second story of a free-standing carriage house on estate grounds served as Hemingway’s writing studio which, at one time, was connected to his master bedroom in the main house by a two story high walking bridge. Hemingway would stay in this carriage house when he returned to the island. A man-made pool supplied with natural water on the property was constructed by Hemingway’s wife Pauline while he was away writing about the Spanish Civil War.
Key West visitors find Hemingway’s estate both enlightening and inspiring. The museum staff has done such an excellent job preserving this beloved home of an American literary giant, it truly feels like walking into history. Literary lovers often visit once, get hooked on the sense of living history, and return for a second and third time. No list of things to do in Key West in complete without a line about Hemingway’s island legacy.
