Ernest Hemingway House Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Significant dates

Ernest Hemingway House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark

Hemingway House in Key West, Florida
Location	907 Whitehead Street Key West, Florida United States
Built	1851
NRHP reference No.	68000023
Added to NRHP	November 24, 1968
Designated NHL	November 24, 1968

The Ernest Hemingway House was the home of a famous American writer named Ernest Hemingway during the 1930s. This special house is located on the sunny island of Key West, Florida, at 907 Whitehead Street. It's right across from the Key West Lighthouse. Many people visit this house because of its connection to Hemingway. It's also famous for its many cats, often called "Hemingway cats," and a lot of them have extra toes!

The house was built in 1851 in a French Colonial style by a rich architect named Asa Tift. Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, lived here from 1931 to 1939. They fixed up the old house and added new parts. While living here, Hemingway wrote some of his most famous books and stories, like Green Hills of Africa (1935) and To Have and Have Not (1937). After Hemingway and Pauline passed away, the house was sold and became a museum in 1964. It was named a National Historic Landmark on November 24, 1968, which means it's a very important historical place.

The House's Story
Hemingway's Famous Cats
Gallery
See also

The House's Story

Building the House

Building the house started in 1848 and finished in 1851. It was built by Asa Tift, who was a marine architect and also helped salvage things from shipwrecks. He designed it in a French Colonial style.

The house is built on a high spot, about 16 feet (4.9 meters) above sea level. This makes it the second-highest place on the island. Its walls are also very thick, about 18 inches (46 cm) of limestone. These strong walls help protect the house during tropical storms and hurricanes.

Hemingway's Time in Key West

Ernest Hemingway with his wife Pauline at their Key West home in the 1930s

In 1928, the writer Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline Pfeiffer moved to Key West. They lived in rented homes for three years before finding their special house.

When Pauline first saw the house at 907 Whitehead Street, it was in bad shape. It was being taken by the bank because payments weren't made. But Pauline saw its potential. She convinced her rich Uncle Gus to buy it for $8,000 as a wedding gift for her and Ernest. Ernest liked that the 1.5-acre (0.61-hectare) property offered him a quiet place to write.

The Hemingways hired local people, called Conchs, who were out of work, to help fix up the entire house. Pauline chose most of the furniture inside. Ernest, however, made sure his hunting trophies were displayed. Pauline also replaced the house's ceiling fans with fancy chandeliers, even though it made the air flow less. They also turned the second floor of the carriage house into Ernest's writing studio. The basement became a place to store wine.

Hemingway's writing studio, where he created many famous works

While Hemingway was away in Spain in 1937, Pauline had a huge swimming pool built on the property. This was the very first swimming pool in the Florida Keys! The pool was 24 by 60 feet (7.3 by 18.3 meters) and held 80,000 US gallons (300,000 liters) of water. It was incredibly expensive, costing $20,000. This was two and a half times more than the entire house cost!

When Hemingway returned, he was very angry about the expensive pool. He dramatically threw a penny on the ground and said, "You might as well take my last cent!" But Pauline had paid for it herself. She kept the penny and later had it pressed into the concrete near the pool. Even though he was mad at first, Hemingway grew to like the pool. He later had a 6-foot (1.8-meter) brick wall built around the property for more privacy. Hemingway also kept peacocks on the property and even held boxing matches on the lawn.

While living in this house, Hemingway wrote some of his most famous works. These include the non-fiction book Green Hills of Africa (1935), the short stories "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" (both from 1936), and his novel To Have and Have Not (1937). After he passed away, a book manuscript was found in a vault in the garage. This book was published in 1970 as Islands in the Stream. After living in the house for eight years, Hemingway moved to Cuba in 1939.

After their divorce in 1940, Pauline continued to live in the house until she died in 1951. The house then stayed empty for a while. Hemingway still owned the house until he died in July 1961. Later that year, his three children sold the house for $80,000.

The House as a Museum Today

Tourists visiting the Ernest Hemingway Home in 2019

The new owners wanted to live in the Hemingway House as their private home. But so many visitors were interested in seeing it that they decided to open it to the public as a museum in 1964.

Even though Hemingway's family had taken many of the original furnishings, the new owners still had the larger pieces of furniture and many of Hemingway's belongings. Not all the furniture is original, so some people have questioned how "real" the museum feels. All the rooms in the house are open for visitors to see, except for Hemingway's writing room. You can only look at that room through a screen. The property is the most popular place for tourists to visit in Key West.

Before Hurricane Irma hit the Keys in September 2017, everyone on the island was told to leave. But the museum's manager, curator, and a team of employees chose to stay at the house with the cats. Hemingway's granddaughter even told them to evacuate, saying, "It's just a house." But they stayed and survived the storm safely.

Hemingway's Famous Cats

One of the many polydactyl cats that live at the Hemingway House

The house and its gardens are home to dozens of cats, often called Hemingway cats. About half of them are polydactyl, which means they have six toes on each paw! These special cats are named after famous celebrities, like Humphrey Bogart or Marilyn Monroe. They even have their own cemetery in the house's garden.

A popular story says that all the cats on the property are related to a white, six-toed cat named Snow White. This cat was supposedly a gift to the Hemingways from a sea captain. However, Hemingway's niece, Hilary, and his son, Patrick, have both said they don't remember Hemingway owning cats in Key West. Some people, like Hilary, think that a neighbor owned several polydactyl cats, and these might be the ancestors of the Hemingway cats. There's even a photo of a young Patrick and Gloria (Hemingway's daughter) playing with a white cat in Key West. But when Patrick was asked about it, he couldn't remember the event.

Starting in 2003, the museum had a long legal fight for nine years with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA wondered if the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 should apply to the museum's six-toed cats. This law usually regulates zoos and circuses that have big cats. The USDA argued that the Hemingway House was like a zoo, and the cats were like exhibits. The USDA even sent secret agents to watch the cats in 2005 and 2006.

The museum owners disagreed with the USDA in court. When an investigator from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) checked on the cats in 2005, they said, "What I found was a bunch of fat, happy and relaxed cats." Finally, in 2012, a court ruled that the Animal Welfare Act did apply. This was because the museum used the cats in advertisements and sold cat-themed items.