Ernest Hemingway House | |
Location | 907 Whitehead Street Key West, Florida United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 24°33′04″N81°48′02″W / 24.55119°N 81.80060°W |
Built | 1851 [1] |
NRHP reference No. | 68000023 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 24, 1968 [2] |
Designated NHL | November 24, 1968 [3] |
The Ernest Hemingway House was the residence of American writer Ernest Hemingway in the 1930s. The house is situated on the island of Key West, Florida. It is at 907 Whitehead Street, across from the Key West Lighthouse, close to the southern coast of the island. Due to its association with Hemingway, the property is the most popular tourist attraction in Key West. It is also famous for its large population of so-called Hemingway cats, many of which are polydactyl.
The residence was constructed in 1851 in a French Colonial style by wealthy marine architect and salvager Asa Tift. From 1931 to 1939, the house was inhabited by Hemingway and his wife Pauline Pfeiffer. They restored the decaying property and made several additions. During his time at the home, Hemingway wrote some of his best-received works, including the non-fiction work Green Hills of Africa (1935), the 1936 short stories "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", and the novels To Have and Have Not (1937) and Islands in the Stream (1970). [note 1] After the Hemingway's divorce and deaths, the house was auctioned off and subsequently converted into a private museum in 1964. On November 24, 1968, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. [3]
Construction on the house began in 1848 and was completed in 1851 [5] by Asa Tift, a marine architect and salvage wrecker, in a French Colonial estate style. [6] The house's site, across the street from the Key West Lighthouse, [7] has an elevation of 16 feet (4.9 m) above sea level, making it the second-highest site on the island. [6] [8] In addition to the elevation, the house's 18-inch (46 cm) thick limestone walls protect it during tropical storms and hurricanes. [9]
In 1928, writer Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline Pfeiffer moved to Key West, where they spent the next three years living in rented housing, the last being a two-story home at 1301 Whitehead Street. [10]
When Pauline had first seen 907 Whitehead Street during a house-scouting tour, she labeled it a "damned haunted house". [11] At the time, the house was in foreclosure and was in deep disrepair. [6] However, after recognizing its potential, she convinced her wealthy Uncle Gus to purchase it at $8,000 for her and Ernest as a wedding present. [12] [13] Ernest appreciated the seclusion that the 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) lot would offer him while writing his works. [13] Employing out-of-work Conchs, the Hemingways restored the entire house. [14] Most of the house's inner furnishings were selected by Pauline, but Ernest insisted on the inclusion of his hunting trophies. [15] At the cost of air circulation, Pauline replaced the house's ceiling fans with chandeliers. [16] The couple also converted the second story of the carriage house into a writing studio for Ernest and transformed the basement into a wine cellar. [14]
While Hemingway was reporting in Spain in 1937, Pauline installed a large pool on the grounds. [17] The first swimming pool in the Florida Keys, the 24 x 60-foot [18] 80,000 US gal (300,000 L; 67,000 imp gal) pool was immensely expensive. At $20,000, it was two and a half times the purchase price of the entire property. [17] [19] Upon his return, Hemingway was irate at the costly addition. With a melodramatic flourish, he threw a penny from his pocket onto the ground, declaring, "You might as well take my last cent," despite the fact that Pauline had paid for it herself. She kept the penny and later had it embedded in the concrete. [17] Despite his initial rage, the pool grew on Hemingway, and he later had a 6 feet (1.8 m) brick wall erected around the property so that he could swim nude. [18] [20] Hemingway also kept peacocks on the property and organized boxing matches on the lawn. [21]
While living at the house, Hemingway wrote some of his best-received work, including the 1935 non-fiction work Green Hills of Africa , the 1936 short stories "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", and his 1937 novel To Have and Have Not . After his death, a manuscript was discovered in a vault in the garage; this work was published posthumously in 1970 as Islands in the Stream . [6] After eight years of residing at the house, Hemingway moved to Cuba in 1939. [22]
Following their 1940 divorce, Pauline lived in the house until her death in 1951 and the house remained vacant afterward. The ownership of the house remained in Hemingway's name until his suicide in July 1961. Later that year, his three children auctioned off the house for $80,000. [6] [23] [24]
The new owners intended to use the Hemingway House as a private residence. However, due to persistent interest from visitors, they opened the house to the public as a museum in 1964. Although Hemingway's family had taken away much of the furnishings, the owners still possessed the bulkier furniture and many of Hemingway's possessions. [18] As a result of not all furniture being original, the authenticity of the museum has received some criticism. [12] All of the house's rooms are open to visitors, except for Hemingway's writing room, which can only be viewed through a screen. [16] The property is the most popular tourist attraction in Key West. [25]
Before Hurricane Irma struck the Keys in September 2017, the entire population of the island chain was ordered to evacuate by the federal government, but the museum's curator, general manager, and a team of employees declined to leave the house or evacuate its cats. Hemingway's granddaughter also urged them to evacuate, saying, "It's just a house." Instead, several employees chose to stay with the cats and the house. They survived the storm intact. [26] [27]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent decline in tourism, the museum laid off over 30 employees, half of their staff. [28] [29]
The house and its grounds are inhabited by dozens of cats, commonly called Hemingway cats. [23] Around half are polydactyl, sporting six toes on each paw. [30] The cats bear the names of celebrities, such as Humphrey Bogart or Marilyn Monroe, and have their own cemetery in the house's garden. [23]
Legend has it that all cats on the property are descended from Snow White, a white six-toed cat [note 2] given as a gift to the Hemingways by a sea captain. [23] [30] However, Hemingway's niece, Hilary, and his son, Patrick, have both contested the claim that Hemingway owned cats in Key West. A neighbor allegedly owned several polydactyl cats and some, such as Hilary, have suggested that these are the forebears of the Hemingway cats. Adding to the confusion, a photograph exists of a young Patrick and Gloria (Hemingway's daughter) playing with a white cat in Key West. When asked about the image, Patrick said he could not remember the incident. [31]
Beginning in 2003, the museum was embroiled in a nine-year legal struggle against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) over whether the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, which typically regulates zoos and circuses with big cats, applied to the museum's six-toed feline population. [23] The USDA argued that the Hemingway House was essentially a zoo, with the cats functioning as an exhibit. [30] The USDA even sent undercover agents to monitor the cats in 2005 and 2006. The museum owners contested the USDA's claims in court. When an investigator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) examined the cats in 2005, they concluded: "What I found was a bunch of fat, happy and relaxed cats." Ultimately, in 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that the Animal Welfare Act was applicable because the museum used cats in advertisements and sold cat-themed merchandise. [23] [32]
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it constitutes the City of Key West.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American writer and journalist.
The 1935 Labor Day hurricane was an extremely powerful and devastating Atlantic hurricane that struck the southeastern United States in early September 1935. For several decades, it was the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of barometric pressure until being surpassed by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988; the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of 1-minute sustained winds ; and the strongest at landfall by 1-minute sustained winds. The fourth tropical cyclone, third tropical storm, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season, it is one of four Category 5 hurricanes on record to strike the contiguous United States, along with Hurricane Camille (1969), Hurricane Andrew (1992), and Hurricane Michael (2018).
Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately 210 km (130 mi) west-northwest of Nassau. The population is 2,417 as of the 2022 census.
To Have and Have Not is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. To Have and Have Not was Hemingway's second novel set in the United States, after The Torrents of Spring.
Finca Vigía is a house in San Francisco de Paula Ward in Havana, Cuba which was once the residence of Ernest Hemingway. Like Hemingway's Key West home, it is now a museum. The building was constructed in 1886.
A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly called polydactyly, which causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. Cats with this genetically inherited trait are most commonly found along the East Coast of North America and in South West England and Wales.
The Key West Historic District is a U.S. historic district located in Key West, Florida. It encompasses approximately 4,000 acres (16 km2), bounded by White, Angela, Windsor, Passover, Thomas and Whitehead Streets, and the Gulf of Mexico. It contains 187 historic buildings and one structure.
The Hemingway-Pfeiffer House, also known as the Pfeiffer House and Carriage House, is a historic house museum at 10th and Cherry Streets in Piggott, Arkansas. It is where novelist Ernest Hemingway wrote portions of his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway was married to Pauline Pfeiffer, the daughter of the owners of the house, Paul and Mary Pfeiffer.
Pauline Marie Pfeiffer was an American journalist and the second wife of writer Ernest Hemingway.
Gloria Hemingway was an American physician and writer who was the third and youngest child of author Ernest Hemingway. Although she was born a male and lived most of her life publicly as a man, she struggled with her gender identity from a young age. In her 60s, she underwent gender transition surgery, and preferred the name Gloria when possible.
The Audubon House & Tropical Gardens is located at 205 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida.
Mallory Square is a plaza located in the city of Key West, Florida. It is located on the waterfront in Key West's historic Old Town, adjacent to the cruise ship port. It is located just west of the northern end of Duval Street, facing the Gulf of Mexico. It runs the entire length of Wall Street. Adjacent to the square are the Key West Shipwreck Historeum Museum and the Old Post Office and Customshouse.
Asa Tift was the most notable salvager in Key West, Florida in the early 19th century. He owned a large salvaging operation, parts of which can still be seen as the Key West Shipwreck Museum. He was also responsible for the building of the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West. He was also the brother of Nelson Tift.
The Southernmost Point Buoy is an anchored concrete buoy in Key West, Florida that claims to mark the southernmost point in the continental United States — though it is neither the true southernmost point of the continental US nor of Key West — and was established as a tourist attraction by the city on September 10, 1983. The large painted buoy is 18 feet (5.5 m) above sea level at the corner of South Street and Whitehead Street.
Ernest Hemingway owned a 38-foot fishing boat named Pilar. It was acquired in April 1934 from Wheeler Shipbuilding in Brooklyn, New York, for $7,495.[1] "Pilar" was a nickname for Hemingway's second wife, Pauline, and also the name of the woman leader of the partisan band in his 1940 novel The Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Hemingway regularly fished off the boat in Key West, Florida, Marquesas Keys, and the Gulf Stream off the Cuban coast. He made three trips by boat to the Bimini Islands, wherein his fishing, drinking, and fighting exploits drew much attention and remain part of the island's history. In addition to fishing trips on Pilar, Hemingway contributed to scientific research, including collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution. Several of Hemingway's books were influenced by time spent on the boat, most notably The Old Man and the Sea (1953) and Islands in the Stream (1970). The yacht also inspired the name of Playa Pilar on Cayo Guillermo. The opening and other scenes in the 2012 film Hemingway & Gellhorn depict a miniature boat replica.
The Ernest and Mary Hemingway House, in Ketchum, Idaho, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. The National Register does not disclose its location but rather lists it as "Address restricted." The property is the last undeveloped property of its size within the city limits of Ketchum.
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two weeks later. At the time, it was considered the most powerful hurricane on record in the open Atlantic region, outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Dorian two years later. It was also the third-strongest Atlantic hurricane at landfall ever recorded, just behind the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and Dorian. The ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, second major hurricane, and first Category 5 hurricane of the extremely active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Irma caused widespread and catastrophic damage throughout its long lifetime, particularly in the northeastern Caribbean and the Florida Keys. It was also the most intense hurricane to strike the continental United States since Katrina in 2005, the first major hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma in the same year, and the first Category 4 hurricane to strike the state since Charley in 2004. The word Irmageddon was coined soon after the hurricane to describe the damage caused by the hurricane.