ERNEST HEMINGWAY HOUSE & MUSEUM, KEY WEST, FL

In a town where literary giants are almost as common as the gypsy chickens roaming the streets, Ernest Hemingway stands taller than most.   Key West, after all, was this Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author’s winter home for eleven years beginning in 1928. 

No way Jimmy and I were passing up the chance to tour Hemingway’s Key West home at 907 Whitehead Street.  

That last statement of fact is sorely lacking the excitement I felt walking in this literary giant’s shoes. This was BIG in my book, as big as Hemingway’s voluminous For Whom the  Bell Tolls book!  Those giant shoes were foot fetish BIG; First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos’ 2,700-pairs-of-shoes collection BIG; Jimmy Choo designer shoes BIG; Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin’s size-13-feet BIG! 

Okay, now that we’re on the same page when it comes to walking in this literary giant’s shoes, I can continue.  This house is after all Key West’s number one tourist attraction and a National Historic Landmark since 1968. If you’re a cat lover, the tour comes with a bonus; actually, about 45 bonuses give or take a few.

The federal government now mandates care of the cats under the Animal Welfare Act.

There were more cats roaming the grounds than there were tourists the day Jimmy and I visited.   True fans of Hemingway know all about his polydactyl cats and their infamous extra toes (seafaring legend has it those extra toes bring a bounty of luck).  The so called Hemingway cats had the run of this beautiful, Spanish Colonial Style house and grounds. 

The veranda wrapped around the entire house both unpstairs and downstairs.

They even had a fancy place on the premises to call their own, although in typical cat fashion, the decision regarding the living arrangements was theirs and theirs alone.

Nice digs! Looks like the cat's meow.

Almost every room sported a friendly feline, most with an extra toe for authenticity and most answering to famous names like Churchill, Lionel Barrymore, Hairy Truman, Clark Gable, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Marilyn Monroe and Mr. Bette Davis (this is Key West, after all!) in true Hemingway tradition.

I bet this is Marilyn sleeping in Hemingway's bed.

It was obvious they’d grown accustomed to the throngs of visitors that have continually paraded through their domicile since 1964 when the Hemingway House and Museum opened to the public; so much so, they hardly raised an eyebrow or moved a whisker with our passing.

If you look closely, you can see the extra toe.

As the story goes (at least according to our tour guide), the cats are all descendants of Snowball, a fluffy white cat Hemingway received from a friend.  It was during Hemingway’s years living in Cuba at Finca Vigia (Lookout Farm) with third wife Martha Gelhorn that Hemingway became an inveterate cat-lover.   

Their presence in the Home and Museum of Ernest Hemingway certainly heightened the feeling that any moment Hemingway might come dashing in from an afternoon of fishing with his good friend Joe Russell of Sloppy Joe’s Restaurant and Bar fame (Russell owned the bar) to a house full of guests he’d willingly entertain with stories he hadn’t yet written.  

A favorite hangout for Hemingway was just blocks from his house.

“Papa” Hemingway, as he came to be called in later years, spent most mornings writing in his studio adjoining the house second wife Pauline Pfeiffer’s wealthy uncle Gus bought for them for $8,000 (the cost of back taxes) in 1931. 

I bet the buck was for good luck!

Hemingway penned many of his best known works in this second-story studio, among them Death in the Afternoon, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Green Hills of Africa, The Fifth Column, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.  

It was the ultimate man cave reflective of Hemingway’s lean, hard, athletic narrative prose honed during his years as a journalist covering the Spanish Civil War, World War I and World War II.  It was where so much of his genius was allowed free reign.  To quote Hemingway, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”   

Yep, it’s always been blood, sweat and tears for me, too, one word painfully begetting another, then another, interspersed with periods of raucous writing when thoughts outstrip words.  I’d have to be a hemophiliac to even come close to a ghost of a whisper of Hemingway’s talent.

By most accounts, Hemingway was a complex man, his moods hilarious, artful, poetic, romantic, abusive, irreverent and playful.   He grew restless when he wasn’t travelling.  It was the travelling that provided impetus for much of his writing. 
 
The portraits and photographs in his home reflected his dashing good looks, and hinted at the charisma that undoubtedly attracted the four women he married over the course of his lifetime; Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer,  Martha Gellhorn and Mary Walsh.

Pauline remained in the house with sons Patrick and Gregory following her divorce in 1940. Hemingway moved to Cuba with third wife Mary.  When Pauline died in 1951, the house sat vacant for almost ten years, although technically caretaker Toby Bruce remained on the property.  Hemingway used the home much as a hotel on his trips between Cuba and his summer home in Ketchum, Idaho.

Following Hemingway’s death in 1961, the house again sat vacant for almost a year before it was purchased in a blind auction for $80,000 by Mrs. Bernice Dickson, owner of the Beachcomber Jewelry Store in Key West.

Mrs. Dickson lived in the home until 1964, when she decided to move to the rear guest house and open the main house to the public as a museum.  She vacated the property entirely in 1968. Her family continues to oversee operations of this historical landmark.

At one time there was a catwalk from the upstairs verenda to Hemingway's studio.

Jimmy and I wandered the grounds on our own at the conclusion of our tour.  The  estate is still the single largest residential property on Key West, the in-ground swimming pool an unusual feature (at the time it was built, it was the only pool within 100 miles).  

Originally salt water was used to fill the pool, with fresh water at a premium.

Purportedly the staggering $20,000 price tag prompted Hemingway to announce to wife Pauline, “Here, take the last penny I’ve got.” 

That penny is still embedded in the flagstones at the north end of the pool. 

A penny for your thoughts.

Hemingway has always been the stuff of legends.  He lived his life to the fullest, ultimately becoming one of his own colorful characters.  
  
I should be so lucky. 

I'm going to have to work on my celebrity pose a bit.

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The Bottom Line on Ernest Hemingway's House and Museum:

Verdict:  If you’re going to come to the very edge of the U.S., why in the world would you want to miss this National Landmark?  The charm and legend behind this house is enchanting; I loved getting an inside look at the life and legend behind Ernest Hemingway.  Kids will probably be bored to tears, although the cats should help keep them entertained.

How to Get There:  Whitehead Street runs parallel to Key West’s famous Duval Street one block south of Duval.  Hemingway’s House and Museum is at 907 Whitehead Street, between Petronia and Olivia Streets.

Insider Information: Guided tours run every 15 minutes and are worth the wait; our guide was extremely knowledgeable and very entertaining.  After the tour, you're free to roam the house and gardens for as long as you wish. Facilities behind the museum bookstore are minimal and may require a bit of a wait if you’re part of a crowd.  If cats are not your thing, you may be put off by the numbers roaming freely.  There’s even a pet cemetery on the grounds. 

I hope this isn't the same Pet Cemetery of Stephen King fame.

Nearby Food:  There is nothing at the museum by way of food, but you are just blocks from all Key West has to offer by way of food.