What Happened to Ernest Hemingway's House? 

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I adore his house on Key West. It’s truly stunning, yet humble in its own way. However 1.5 acres located 16 feet above sea level (one of the Island’s highest points) with the only natural fresh water spring on the island is anything but humble for Key West. I’m glad it’s a historical museum, because if it wasn’t it would have long ago been torn down and either subdivided into smaller lots or had a mega McMansion replacing it. Truly a one of a kind and very valuable piece of property for such a small and popular Island. Oh and the cats are darling.

I actually got the wonderful honor of sitting at Mr. Hemingway's writing desk on my birthday about 10 years ago. One of the tour guides asked me what brought me there and I told him it was my birthday. He brought me up to his study above the garage and unlocked the gate. He even allowed me to sit at his desk, but I was too scared to actually touch his typewriter. The picture he took of me at Mr. Hemingway's desk is an incredibly fond memory.

Six years ago I went to Cuba and visited Hemingway's home there, just outside of Havana. He wrote "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and" The Old Man and the Sea" there. We also went to one of his favorite bars, La Floridita, in Old Havana, and drank his favorite cocktail, the daiquiri. Totally coincidental but I also have a polydactyl cat!

As a buildings archaeologist working in UK, I have been feasting on your videos for several days now, I find them very useful, nicely crafted, and enjoyably entertaining.

FYI-The Hemingway House Museum in Key West is Cash Only! For a (relatively) small chunk of change you will receive a guided tour (my tour guide was actually working the ticket booth when I entered the grounds) and unlimited (well from 9a to 5p, excluding certain holidays) time chillin with the kitties! Informational boards are placed throughout the property, including discussing the Catwalk that connected the Main House to the Carriage House (prior to an unnamed Hurricane knocking it down permanently). The adorable kitties are totally non-plussed when the humans are around, they typically only perk up when the House/Museum is closed… or when they hear the crinkle of a treat bag from a staff member! All cats receive regular monthly Vet care and when their time on Earth is up, they are cremated and buried on the grounds. Many of the cats are named after famous individuals, especially those that were associated with Hemingway. See their names and dates of birth/death in the cemetery. Remember this is their house-we are just visiting! Be sure to check out all the cat houses (including replicas of the Main House) complete with fans! (Of course, you will find plenty of cardboard boxes hiding nearby too!) The nice swimming pool (the infamous penny is encased in resin in the concrete nearby) and basement (the only one in Key West due to elevation of the property) are the areas where the public are not allowed.

Loved seeing this home and all the cats when we were in Key West. His childhood home in Illinois is also preserved as a museum. It is in the same neighborhood as several Frank Lloyd Wright homes.

Loved his home in Key West. We visited back in 2013. I love the almost ceiling-to-floor doors around the house. Each door/window opened onto the veranda and I felt like I was in a faraway place as I stepped outside. The property is surrounded by trees and a large fence so the rest of the island doesn’t exist as long as you are within the walls of the property. We might as well have been on a deserted island. I sat down to rest before we saw his writing studio and a six-toed cat jumped up beside me to rest and receive some love. It was one of the offspring of Snow White! The swimming pool is still there along with a “built in cabana” area to sit. Had it not been for the few other visitors around us, I could easily have envisioned myself as Hemingway, walking about the property. Everything I touched, I knew he had touched. As a fledgling writer myself, I like to think some of his expertise moved into my hands and one day, I will write the next “Old Man and The Sea.” Writers like to dream. ❤

Loved this episode! My favorite Ernest Hemingway quote is "one cat just leads to another". He also refereed to his cats as "purr factories". 😻😺

Great video! Martha Gellhorn actually left Hemingway and divorced him. She was a fantastic war correspondent. Also, another interesting Hemingway home fact. After moving to his Cuba home. Many people thought Hemingway was going insane because he insisted he was being watched, recorded, and followed. However, decades later after government files were declassified, it turns out the US government was tracking him to "make sure" he wasn't colluding with communists.

We visited the Hemingway House Museum in Key West many years ago, but have never forgotten our visit. There were many of the six toed cats wondering around in the gardens of the home. There were signs not to pick up the cats, but my daughter who was 14 at the time, sat down on a bench in the garden. In no time at all, she had Cats on her lap and beside her on the bench. They know a cat lover when they see one. I bought a piece of Art showing the Spanish style home, with the Cats in the Garden in the home at Key West, it is a lovely reminder of the remarkable writer, Ernest Hemingway and his beautiful home still with the descendants of Ernest’s “Hemingway Cats”

I've wandered through his house each time I was in Key West. OK, I was there for the cats, but the house was nice too. Great view of the lighthouse from the balcony.

He was rejected because he had poor eyesight but he was okay to drive an ambulance...😁

I have visited his home in Key West many times and also a home he either owned or stayed at in Bimini.

“No animal has more liberty than the cat, but it buries the mess it makes. The cat is the best anarchist.” 😂~ For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Went to the Key West home in 1989. Kitties everywhere around the salt water pool. Delightful home!

I've been there many times since the 70's. I particularly liked the stone brick walkway which Ernest created himself, brick by brick. The tour is most excellent, and, like others, I felt his presence in the home. The home was purchased by a woman who was a fan of his writing and turned the home into the museum it became. His writing is genious, who cares about his being human or his love of alcohol. As a 'car-nut' myself, his last car was a '62 Ford. He didn't like to drive at the end.

Visited the house. While there observed two large male cats enjoying themselves in the master. Bedroom sprawled out on the bed.many cats roamed the premises and were being fed on a regular feeding schedule.

Ken, this really was an informative and enjoyable video! Love to visit his house and cat's ! Even in his early 50's Ernest looked like he had done a lot of living!

thanks for sharing the history

I started my career as an Interior Designer in 2000 working for a high end furniture store in Oregon that had an exclusive partnership with Thomasville Furniture. In the spring of that year Thomasville introduced their Ernest Hemmingway Collection that included replicas and inspired pieces of all the furnishings and accessories from each of Hemingway's homes. Wildly popular and Thomasville's most profitable collection ever, our showroom was packed with people on weekends. Most of them were men as we all think of Hemmingway's stories, adventures and lifestyle as the masculine ideal and want a replica of something he had in their study, library, den or man cave. If you're lucky enough to find something for sale from this collection, snap it up as it's a true collectible!

I spent August 1997 in Key West. Man was it hot! I went one afternoon into the Hemingway House. I was all alone there. I swear I felt the spirit of Mr. Hemingway in the bathroom. Like he was hiding from me in there. Such a cool house. I never felt so at home there. I took pictures of me standing next to his bed. He had great taste I'll tell you that. I will always have fond memories of that afternoon with Mr. Hemingway and his cool house. RIP Ernie.

I’ve visited his Key West home as well as the Audubon house and Truman White House there. I really liked seeing those 6 toed cats.

He certainly lead an interesting life & had lovely homes!!! Thanks for sharing another exciting video!! 👍👍🌲

I visited the house as a kid, I'd spend 2 months every summer in the keys, from key largo to key west, every summer from about 11 till now, 33. It's actually quite small but most houses there are. It's a street over from a neighborhood that looks straight out of the Bahamas. It's amazing how close yet different everything is in the keys. There's chickens and roosters running the street, drugs sold in every corner, families on vacation, what an amazing place. I love everything about it. I do know from trying to buy a house about a quarter mile away from this house that there expensive, probably in the 2 million dollar range for a small villa to 6 million for a larger 2 lot home. There not cheap. I've also been on his boat, it's all amazing when your on vacation in the keys. Edit: I remember seeing dozens of cats just like the chickens but never thought to look at there paws, I'll definitely be looking from now on. Wonder if it's ok to take one?? Lol 😆

A Key West trip must include the house. Guided tour with interesting stories. Many cats, the pool which was covered up by wife, his studio, the balcony where a scene from a James Bond movie was filmed.

Saw his Key West home 20 years ago.

I've seen his Key West home. It's a popular tourist attraction. There are indeed many mitten cats all over the island and it seems every resident of the Island has taken one of their own. It's interesting that he chose strong female companions. I'm sure it's because he carralled the cats and the women corralled him! At least as long as they could. Great episode. Always look forward to seeing "this house" in my feed.

I recently visited Key West and was looking forward to seeing the cats. Unfortunately they had all been evacuated the previous week due to a hurricane which fortunately didn’t do much damage but the cats hadn’t been returned. I stayed around the corner from the house. Keys has a fascinating history and a wonderful place to visit

I am a big fan of Ernest Hemingway and have greatly enjoyed reading most of his novels and short stories. I’ve visited the home he grew up in Oak Park Illinois and the home in Key West. They a very different homes! The Key West home is the only home there with a basement and built to withstand even the strongest hurricane. Yes, I saw the cats with 6 toes! It’s well worth visiting if you ever go to Key West, which I highly recommend.

Key West is on my Bucket List. It beckons me like a magnet does paperclips ...

There is also another home associated with the time Hemingway-Pfeiffer were married that you may want to look at. It is located in Piggott, AR. It is where he wrote Farewell to Arms. You can locate it by searching for Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum.

I just love, that Mr. Hemingway's love of so many Cats.❤️

I had my morning coffee in the gardens of the Key West house. This is a completely glossed over account of Hemingway's life. Most real writers question his sainthood in writing. He was a drunk and a bully with almost everyone. Constantly goaded people into fighting. Would have drunk himself to death if the shotgun hadn't been handy. However, the house is wonderful. I believe the only house on Key West that has a basement. Which they quarried the coral to build the 18" thick walls of the house. Also, the light house across the street is a MUST to visit.

The six toed cats are the most memorable part of the house tour. The house is great, but spare toes? LOLOL

Been there twice and can say that it is well worth the visit. My wife loved the cats.

I visited Earnest Hemmingway’s house in Key West in 1990. I loved the little blue water bowls that were placed all around the house and garden for the cats to drink. They also were selling them for souvenirs so I bought one and have it to this day. Inside one of the bedrooms was a small sculpture of a cat that Picasso had gifted to Hemingway. It was an interesting tour…but he had a sad life.

I have 5 Hemingway cats. They have naturally made it far north in Florida. They came to me as strays! The breed is very calm and loving. I recommend everyone to rescue one at least once. I'm an hour south of Orlando. Hemingway was a bastard. He did gift us with beautiful literature and the lovely cats so he's cool in my book.

While married to Pauline Pfeiffer, they visited her parents numerous times in Piggott, Arkansas (northeast Arkansas near the Missouri line). He wrote a portion of A Farewell to Arms there. The home is part of the Arkansas State University Heritage Sites Program and is open for tours. (ASU also operates the nearby Johnny Cash Boyhood Home near Dyess, Arkansas)

Thank you so much

I learned so much. Thank you for another great video and especially for posting the 988 number!

As a cat lover myself,I enjoyed visiting the Hemingway house and the cats.I sneaked a picture holding one of the cats next to the pool . 2015.

Here’s a somewhat bizarre side note on the Key West Hemingway house. When his favorite watering hole….Sloppy Joe’s….was forced to change locations because of increased rent…they sold off much of the original furnishings. Hemingway demanded the urinals from the men’s room….saying he had already “pissed away a fortune” in them. Those same white porcelain conveniences can be seen today in the home’s gardens as drinking troughs for the generations of six toed cats. The more you know!

Another brilliant video Ken! Thanks!

Visited in 2016, it was a beautiful property. Also loved the story it told about Hemingway as well. And yes the cats were everywhere 😊

Great presentation

I'm moved to key West Back in 2003 lived there for just 2 years. My Parents came to visit me one Christmas. Whiles I was working they went Sightseeing and asked me if I knew I lived right around the corner from the Hemingway House. Being in my early 20s at the time I didn't care 🤦‍♂️😆. Now that I'm older I appreciate the History and Designs of Buildings. Especially ones from the 1800s and early 1900s.

When I took the tour of his home in Key West, I was amazed how small the kitchen was. The dining room table was also small. His wife didn’t like too many guests for dinner.

Thanks Ken, a great and informative presentation as usual. I always appreciate not only the amazing detail of the home(s) but backstop as well.👍😄👍

it is a beautiful estate

Visited on my roadtrip from California. That penny is still there. But the pool was rather plain. It must have been an engineering feat that can't be seen from the garden. Seeing his office was awe-inspiring.

My husband and I visited the Key West House on our honeymoon. It was an experience I will never forget. The trip made me so happy. ❤

I've been to Key West and was aware of his home, but did not visit the museum. Perhaps one day I'll go back. There's a famous bar srill there where EH used to drink, called Sloppy Joe's, I believe and John Audubom's house is there as well

WOW! This is so thorough, thanks!

I’ve had the good fortune to visit both his Florida residence and Finca Vigía in Cuba. They are both very interesting. Love the polydactyl kitties in Key West; they are reputed to bring good luck, perhaps he should have taken one when he travelled.

I've toured the Key West home twice.

Loved the six toed cats at the Key West home.

We visited the Florida home. We arrived first and were fortunate that there were only few of us for the first tour. I stood in those large windows looking over the pool and felt him standing there. I felt: He did this a hundred times. I still felt him in the room when returned from the gardens. The feeling comes back to me even now. I would write it off as imagination, but feelings stick with you longer than thoughts. I think some people's lives are too powerful to just up and leave. ...And, yes, there were cats with six toes wandering the grounds and occupying different niches.

Wow, he was a real...romeo. The house in FL looked so pretty. Love the windows and the simple decor!

I visited Hemingway's house in the mid 80's. I am grateful it preserved maintaining the history of the house and the man. As I recall. the carriage house by the pool wae where he wrote.

My 2020 ski trip to Sun Valley got cancelled due to Covid.....was really looking forward to seeing his home there and visiting his grave site.....but I did make it to Key West in Feb 2021and toured the house....loved it, such history! Nice vid!

I was lucky enough to visit Key West and Hemingway House several years ago. It was haunting to walk the house and grounds. To step out onto the veranda and see the lighthouse and surrounding area was very haunting, knowing he saw what I saw years before. Those cats are everywhere! And there’s chickens loose in the streets! A great adventure.

Excellent video on this interesting American.

I've been there. Hey! Would you please do the unique style private home at Poplar Forest that Thomas Jefferson designed during his Presidency? It was round with no corners. I believe they said he didn't want any shadows. Also, his home at Monticello has that bed in the wall where he could get out on one side to be in his office and the other side to be in his bedroom. He was an interesting architect. I visited both homes and the 5-cent nickel reminds me of Monticello.

I lived in key west for many years. The six “toes” cats were still there and if I remember correctly the pool was either filled in or empty. This was approximately 10 years ago.

Speaking of 20th Century Literary figures, could you do a video on Steepletop, Edna St. Vincent Millay's house in Austerlitz, New York?

I've visited both Hemingway's house in Key West and his home in Havana. Both quite interesting indeed.

The chickens in key west are the coolest! I love that place!

Yes I have been to his house in Key West. All around were cats and outside there were these small bungalow houses for each cat he had. He had named these cats after Hollywood stars and their names were on the little houses. I enjoyed the tour very much!

I loved his house and grounds in Key West. Very charming

Visited the Key West house in 76. Recall he had raised the kitchen stove legs up with blocks so he wouldn't have to bend over while cooking, he was a tall guy.

I just finished The Wife in Paris, a wonderful novel told from his first wife's point of view.

During Hurricanes ,some people stay to take care of the cats! How cool is that????🥰🥰🥰⚓⛵🌅🌊⛱️⚓🐈‍⬛🐈🐈🐈

You didn't cover his house in Bimini Bahamas. It's, I believe, still there. It's been over 20yrs now, but we vacationed in Bimini and we were told that one of the houses there, which was a bar and restaurant I think, was the house that Hemingway owned there.

In summer of 1982 when I was studying in UMass Amherst ( I am from another country), my friends and I we drove to Florida and all the way to Keywest, did visit that house and saw the cats too.

hi i love your videos! try using a clap when you start speaking on camera so you can better align your audio and video in post. i assume you're using a separate microphone from your camera. when in doubt, put the video a frame or so earlier than the audio.

I have visited the Key West house twice 1st in Dec. 1971 and again in Oct 2020...beautiful house

We spent one winter living 1 block from his Key West home. Visited multiple times.Lovely home and tons of cats, which my husband is allergic to.

We just visited his house in Key West. We were told that the wife that lived with him and built the pool's name was Mae. He was more angry that the area she built it in was his boxing arena he cherished rather than the money she had spent. It is also known today that Hemingway suffered from Hemochromotois, which is severe iron overload in the body. This is what caused his depression, tendency to drink too much and why he took his own life because then they did not understand this disease. Both of his siblings were also thought to suffer from Hemochromotosis and the same symptoms.

Very nicely done. I have been to Hemingway House two or three times, the first time in 1979. I definitely remember seeing all the kitties and the spot where Mr Hemingway threw the penny. I used to have a signed 1932 Ernest Hemingway check made out to GA Pfeiffer, Pauline's uncle, with a payment for $50. Whether or not it was a payment towards the famous house on Whitehead Street I don't know. I sold it a few years back along with my framed signed Marilyn Monroe check and I'm kind of sorry I sold both of them. Anyway, very well done enjoyed it.

I don’t understand how he would ever have writers block? Couldn’t he just simply start writing about constantly having affairs while married, divorcing these women, and remarrying the next? Those will be great writing stories.

I dont care for extended biography, show the damn houses.

My kid's good friends had their wedding at the Hemingway House.

His Key West house must be very well constructed ! It has endured many Hurricanes ,the most recent Hurricane Ian! They don't build houses like his anymore! Key West is a wonderful place! Doesn't seem like the rest of Florida ! Thank God! 🤔🥰🇩🇪🇨🇭🇺🇲💙⚓⛵⚓🌅🌊⛱️⚓🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬

I've viewed both Hemingway houses in Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba.

Merci 🌺🇨🇭🇫🇷📚

Hemingway was born in 1899 so he was born in the "Victorian era". Babies wore dresses because it was easier to change their diapers; it was not a fashion statement.

The name of Hemingway's yacht is pronounced "pee-LAR" with the stress on the second syllable. It's a Spanish girl's name.

We had a private tour of the Hemingway House cats when we went to Key West. At that time the oldest cat in residence was named Marilyn Monroe. She had the pointed coloration of a Siamese. She was 21 years old at the time and was a front porch cat. The actual count of the number of cats living on the property was just north of 70, but the docents were told to say the number was in the low 50s. None of the polydactyl cats we saw had paws as beautiful as our poly at home whose feet were symmetrical. His front paws each had 7 toes, his hind paws each had 5. His front paws resembled catcher's mitts. They had 3 toes grouped together next to the other 4 toes which formed a second group. He was very particular about his paws. We had to stop using clumping litter as he didn't like the way it stuck to the fur that grew between the pads on the bottoms of his paws.

This guy just couldn’t keep his zipper closed. He was a great writer but he was clueless about the word FAITHFUL!!

I used to walk past this house everyday when I lived in the Keys.

I’ve been to the house in Key West and the one in Cuba. Both lovely and interesting. However I was disappointed that in the Key West house the furniture was not original and had been added for show. The interior of the house in Havana is original and includes the alcohol and glassware, markings on the walls in his bathroom, it’s the real thing, infinitely superior to the Key West house. It’s a real treasure that has been respectfully maintained, all respect to the Government of Cuba.

I had the pleasure of visiting the Key West house in 1971.

I used to have a Hemingway cat! ❤

I like all the six toed cats. My brothers girlfriend had some. Big fluffy things

I read he was a pretty good friend to F Scott Fitzgerald in Paris. Love that Spanish colonial home in key west. He was quite the handsome writer in his earlier day's.

An ambulance Driver with poor eyesight?

Very Good!... #101 ✝ {12-6-2022}

I enjoyed the house in Key West, passed over the one in Oak Park as I was on a FLW quest and an old Victoria just wasn't on the menu that day. The KW tour is interesting and informative and wasn't even that rushed when we did it one March. Plus I love cats :) Hemmingway himself, is a mixed bag for me. As a man, not all that admirable. As a writer - IDK - I'd rather read Fitzgerald or for that matter, Waugh. Probably I should give it a reconsideration - and avoid The Old Man and the Sea - blech (my opinion, despite the fact that it's consistently ranked as a 'great work')

When I visited the tour guide told us that his wife built the pool for an enormous amount of money to get back at him for having an affair and that the penny was to say that she was taking his last penny. It's a beautiful house and there is an outside cat house built to withstand hurricanes.