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Admission prices & discounts for tickets to The Ernest Hemmingway Home and Museum in Key West

The Ernest Hemmingway Home and Museum

The following overview lists the admission prices and various discounts and discount codes for a visit to The Ernest Hemmingway Home and Museum in Key West . All prices are displayed per age group or reduced rate group. You can also directly book your discounted online ticket for the The Ernest Hemmingway Home and Museum here, if available, or make a reservation to reserve a timeslot if applicable.

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The Ernest Hemmingway Home and Museum

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U.S. News Insider Tip: Combine this stop with the Key West Lighthouse across the street. Then, visit nearby Blue Heaven in the quirky, colorful Bahama Village neighborhood for the best backyard vibes (and Key lime pie) in town. - Lyssa Goldberg

Literary icon and journalist Ernest Hemingway is one of Key West's best-known and well-loved "freshwater Conchs" (a resident who was not born on the island). His former home – which he lived in for less than 10 years, but owned until his death in 1961 – is located in Old Town and is now a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Literature buffs take note: Hemingway penned parts of some of his most famous works, including "A Farewell to Arms" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls," in this very residence. The grand house itself is interesting, as it was one of the first in Key West to have indoor plumbing and a pool. Inside, the rooms contain memorabilia about Hemingway's life and work.

Recent travelers recommend a visit here (despite the perennial crowds), and offer praise for the knowledgeable tour guides, who bring Hemingway's time in Key West to life. Visitors also recommend sticking around after your tour (which takes about 20 to 30 minutes) to peruse the gardens and take in the distinct design touches of Hemingway's wife, Pauline. Several of the city's top guided tours make stops here.

Another important facet to the Hemingway legend: his cat. Hemingway was given a white, six-toed cat by a ship's captain. Many of the cats that currently live on the museum grounds (about 60) are believed to be descendants of that cat, named Snow White. So, if you have cat allergies, you may want to skip a visit here altogether. Previous travelers said the friendly felines can be found lounging (or snoozing) inside and outside of the house in the garden, and don't seem to mind the visitors.

The house is open every day of the year (even holidays) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets include the guided tour and cost $18 for adults and $7 for kids ages 6 to 12. Children 5 and younger get in for free. You'll also find a book store and gift shop on-site. Additional information is available on the property's  website .

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U.S. News Insider Tip: Fuel your day of sightseeing with strong, sweet espresso from Cuban Coffee Queen. There are multiple locations near or along Duval Street, including the original truck by the waterfront. If it's a hot day (which it always is), get an iced cafe con leche with coffee ice cubes. - Lyssa Goldberg

A visit to Key West isn't complete without taking a stroll down Duval Street. Lined with restaurants, bars, art galleries and souvenir shops, this popular thoroughfare stretches a little more than a mile and is near many of the city's most well-known attractions. Grab a slice of Key lime pie from Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe a few blocks over, sign up for a ghost tour or catch some live music at the legendary Sloppy Joe's bar. Best of all, you can people-watch here free of charge.

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Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum

  • 907 Whitehead St. Key West, FL 33040
  • (305) 294-1136

Quick Whit Travel

Everything You Need to Know about Visiting Hemingway’s House on Key West

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

quickwhittravel

Key West is famous for a few things: being the southernmost point of the continental U.S., key lime pie, U.S. 1 mile marker 0… and being the home of one Ernest Hemingway and his six-toed kitty cats. The Florida Keys have been on my bucket list for a while, so when United started flying there non-stop from my home airport (IAD), we had to go! And what had to be on the list? (Aside from key lime pie, of course.) A visit to the famous writer’s home. Here’s everything you need to plan your visit!

Know Before You Go

Tour length: 30 minutes.

You can choose docent-guided or self-guided. If you choose docent-guided, you can also come back through on your own to take a closer look, spend more time in any of the rooms, or lie in wait for the perfect cat-inclusive photos.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

There were 63 polydactyl (six-toed) cats roaming around the house when we visited! Fifty-five adults and eight kittens (born in October 2019) make their home on the property, so you’re sure to see some. Not all the cats actually have six toes (about half of them do), but they all carry the gene, so they could have six-toed kittens, even if they don’t have six toes themselves. They’re all well-cared for, and their personal vet makes sure they’re healthy.

Hemingway’s original six-toed cat was a gift from a ship’s captain, and her name was Snow White. Many of the Hemingway House Museum cats are her descendants. In keeping with Hemingway’s own cat-naming tradition, they’re all named after famous people. Marilyn Monroe likes to hang out by the pool, while Bette Davis prefers the bed in the master suite!

Just remember, you may pet the cats, play with the cats, and photograph the cats, but please don’t pick them up.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Read next: What to Know Before You Visit Key West

Location, hours, and admission, getting there:.

Everything in Old Town Key West is quite walkable, including the Hemingway Home. There is parking available, but it’s extremely limited, so I recommend walking, Ubering, or taking a pedicab there.

Address: 907 Whitehead Street

Whitehead parallels Duval Street, making it very easy to find but also away from the hustle and bustle of the main drag through town.

Hours: 9:00am-5:00pm, 7 days per week

The first tour starts at 9:20am, and tours run every twenty minutes with the last tour beginning at 4:40pm.

Admission: $16 per adult

Children ages 6-12 are $6, children 5 and under are FREE. Cash and credit card are both accepted, and you can purchase tickets online .

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Buying Tickets

You can buy tickets easily on their website (must be 24 hours in advance), or walk-up and get tickets the same day. We chose to purchase tickets in advance because we visited in January 2021, and the museum had to restrict the number of guests per tour due to COVID.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Highlights of the Tour

There are many highlights at the Hemingway home, but I can’t tell you all their secrets, so here are just a few of my favorites!

The Penny at the Pool

So, the pool was Ernest Hemingway’s idea. The location was not–it was his second wife Pauline’s! Hemingway actually had a beloved boxing ring where the pool is now, but when he returned from Spain as a war correspondent in the late 1930s, he found this pool in its place. He wasn’t pleased. He told Pauline she might as well take him for his last red cent, and promptly stuck one in the still-wet cement beside the pool, where it remains today.

When the pool was built, it was the only one within a 100-mile radius of Key West, and it was an impressive feature, to say the least.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Of course they’re a highlight! They’re very used to people, so they don’t mind if you pet and play with them. The alpha males walk around with purple collars that have been treated with calming essential oils so they don’t do anything brash. I love that they’re named for famous contemporaries of Hemingway, but there’s no way I could keep them straight! Our wonderful tour guide told us their secret: six-toed cats are more territorial than regular cats, and certain cats like to lounge in certain places. That helps them remember who’s who! My favorite was the one on the roof of Hemingway’s writing studio.

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Pauline’s Taste

Pauline worked for Vogue in Paris, so her tastes were a bit high-faluten for the Florida Keys, but she didn’t mind. She just brought her beautiful things with her! She actually removed all the ceiling fans in the house and had them replaced with elaborate chandeliers! She also brought beautiful–and impractical–sofas and loveseats to the home as well, which are still there and still impractical for the region, and overrun with the most spoiled and chill cats you’ll ever see.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Hemingway’s Wall of Wives

Hemingway had four wives. The first three made the mistake of introducing Hemingway to their friends. The fourth did not. There might be something to that!

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Hemingway’s Bronze Star

Ernest Hemingway is known today as a great American novelist, but many of his stories were inspired by his own experiences as a Red Cross ambulance driver in World War I, as well as his time as a war correspondent during both the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and throughout Europe in World War II. He landed at Normandy to report on the D-Day invasions and earned his Bronze Star as a civilian.

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Hemingway’s Writing Studio

As an author myself , I loved seeing where Hemingway wrote so many of his novels and short stories! It was surprisingly neat, which may or may not have been exactly as he left it. I loved all the natural light, but also the mementos from his life of adventures that very likely inspired him while he wrote.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Read Before You Go

Never read Hemingway’s work? That’s okay! His home is well worth a visit anyway. Many of his books are really short stories, so you could read one on the flight down or a few days before your trip. Here are some suggestions.

The Old Man and the Sea

This novella is about an old Cuban fisherman and his fight with a giant marlin. Not impressed yet? It helped Hemingway win the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Old Man and The Sea, Book Cover May Vary

A Farewell to Arms

This World War I novel set on the Italian front is about an American ambulance driver and the English nurse he falls in love with. It’s inspired by Hemingway’s own experience in World War I, so it gives some insight into the man himself.

A Farewell to Arms: The Hemingway Library Edition

The Sun Also Rises

This novel set in both Paris and Spain follows American expatriates in the Roaring 20s. It’s also inspired by Hemingway’s own experiences as a journalist living in Europe after World War I. A must-read for travelers!

The Sun Also Rises: The Hemingway Library Edition

For Whom the Bell Tolls

This novel is set during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, where Hemingway himself was a journalist covering the war for the North American Newspaper Alliance. It follows a young American man fighting alongside anti-fascists.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

A Moveable Feast

Another one set in 1920s Paris, this one was published posthumously. It gives a sneak peek into the lives of not only Hemingway, but also his famous friends and the shenanigans they got up to.

A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition

The Green Hills of Africa

This memoir is about Hemingway’s experience big game hunting in Africa and why the thrill of the hunt fascinates him. It was originally published in 1935.

Green Hills of Africa: The Hemingway Library Edition

To Have and Have Not

This is a good one to read before your trip to Key West because it’s the story of an honest man forced to run contraband between Key West and Cuba and his adventures doing so.

To Have and Have Not

The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

Need a quick intro? Look no further than his short stories! You’ll get a sampling of his work, and you can decide if you like his style or not!

The Short Stories: The First Forty-nine Stories with a Brief Preface by the Author

The museum shop has all of Hemingway’s work for sale, so if you’d like a special copy of something, you can get it there!

Want more? Check out my United States Page for all my posts about Key West and Florida!

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7 responses to “everything you need to know about visiting hemingway’s house on key west”.

Lovnish Thakur Avatar

Thank you so much!

[…] Related: Visiting Hemingway’s House in Key West […]

[…] More here: Visiting Ernest Hemingway’s House on Key West […]

Sally Sawyer Avatar

I visited there in 1974 very beautiful place.

Wow! I’d be curious to know if things had changed over the years!

Rip `Fr'isco Avatar

Well done; THX! That “penny” nonsense? Money for the place came from Pauline’s father. Hemingway had to beg her [and she her father] for drinking money.

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Home » T-key-wests » Ernest Hemingway House & Museum

Ernest Hemingway House & Museum

Take a tour of the Ernest Hemingway House and Museum in Key West, Florida. This was Hemingway’s residence from 1931 to 1939. The author wrote many of his best novels here, including “A Farewell to Arms,” “Death in the Afternoon,” “To Have and Have Not,” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” The house is now a privately owned landmark and is open to the public.

Address: 907 Whitehead Street, Key West, FL 33040 Phone: (305) 294-1136 Website: http://www.hemingwayhome.com Adult tickets: $13.00 Child tickets: $6.00 (ages 6-12) Hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, every day Directions: From Mallory Square, walk south on Whitehead Street for 7 blocks.

The Ernest Hemingway House & Museum highlights:

  • A 30-minute guided tour is included with admission.
  • The house is a National Historic Landmark, Literary Landmark and recorded at the Library of Congress as a Historic American Building.
  • The house features a swimming pool — the only one within 100 miles in the 1930s.
  • Hemingway’s wife removed the ceiling fans and had them replaced by elaborate wood and glass chandeliers.
  • 50 polydactyl (six-toed) cats live on the grounds.
  • Hemingway converted a urinal from Sloppy Joe’s bar into a water fountain, where it now serves as a water source for the cats.
  • When the visitor bureau included the house in a tourist brochure in 1935, Hemingway hired a friend to build the high brick wall that surrounds it today.
  • The house was featured in the James Bond movie “Licence To Kill”.

The Hemingway House & Museum is discussed in our audio tour .

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This Is My South

A travel guide to the Southern USA

Visiting the Hemingway House in Key West

January 15, 2014 By Caroline Eubanks Leave a Comment

hemingway house

Key West , Florida is an island that has been home to famous politicians, celebrities, and writers over the years, but none has left more of a lasting legacy on the area than Ernest Hemingway , who made his home here in the 1930s.

This post has affiliate links.

hemingway house

The History of the Hemingway House

Hemingway found the Bahama Village area house abandoned during a visit and fell in love with it immediately. So his wife Pauline’s uncle purchased it for the couple for $8,000 and Hemingway moved in with her and children Patrick and Gregory.

Hemingway lived here until he left for Cuba in 1940 and came back and forth until his death in 1961. Following his death, Pauline remained in the house until her death, when the house was purchased by local Bernice Dixon. She created the museum in 1968, which it remains today.

hemingway house

What to See at the Hemingway House

Much of the house has been recreated to how it would have appeared during Hemingway’s residence and much of the furniture is original. Throughout the rooms, you can see touches of what made this man who he was, including movie posters for his novels that became film classics. His design aesthetic was influenced by his travels through Spain, Africa, and Cuba, as you will see in some of his more bizarre pieces.

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The Spanish Colonial house has many unique stories and legends surrounding it. The swimming pool in the backyard reportedly cost $20,000, prompting Hemingway to press a penny into the wet cement and say, “Here, take the last penny I’ve got!”

There’s also the polydactyl cats that Hemingway made his pets, naming them after famous actors, who still live on the property. He even made them a drinking fountain from an old urinal from the nearby Sloppy Joe’s bar.

hemingway house

The most fascinating room to visit is Hemingway’s writing space, decorated with animal heads and mounted fish from his famous fishing trips in Cuba and hunting trips in Africa. It also displays shelves of books that influenced him and the typewriter he used to construct his classic novels. Recently, the home survived a hurricane.

hemingway house

Tips for Visiting the Hemingway House

The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum  is located at 907 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida 33040. The house is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission is $17 for adults and $7 for children, but you can buy combination tickets with other area attractions as well as the trolley tour through historic Key West . Only cash is currently accepted.

There are also guided tours of the property that last 20-30 minutes. The house hosts weddings along with author experiences that let writers spend time in the home working on a project. After visiting the Hemingway Home, it’s a short walk to the Key West Lighthouse and the Southernmost Point.

Where to Eat Near the Hemingway House

Lobster eggs benedict at Blue Heaven

After touring the Hemingway House, grab a meal at one of the nearby restaurants. Moondog Cafe is just around the corner, serving breakfast tacos, burgers, and grilled pizzas. Blue Heaven is one of the most popular places in town and was where Hemingway used to hold boxing matches. You can also grab a pint like Papa at Old Town Tavern and Beer Garden .

Where to Stay Near the Hemingway House

Walk around the corner to the museum from Orchid Key Inn , which is a historic inn with an outdoor pool and daily breakfast. The Kimpton Lighthouse Hotel is behind the hotel and has stylish rooms and daily breakfast. Papa’s Hideaway is a vacation rental that is five minutes away from the museum and has an outdoor pool.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

My visit to the Hemingway Home was provided by the Florida Keys Tourism Council, but all opinions are my own.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

About Caroline Eubanks

Caroline Eubanks is the editor of this website, a Lowell Thomas award-winning travel writer, and the author of This Is My South: The Essential Travel Guide to the Southern States. Her stories from the South have appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Afar, Thrillist, Roads and Kingdoms, and BBC Travel.

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Should Be Cruising

Visiting the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West

By: Author Carrie Ann Karstunen

Posted on Published: February 21, 2020  - Last updated: March 15, 2023

Visiting the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West

If you’re planning a visit to Key West, Florida, a stop at the Ernest Hemingway House should be at the top of your list. Whether or not you’re a fan of his writing, the lovely home and gardens are now a museum full of charming 1930’s details, memorabilia from Hemingway’s time on the island, and of course lots and lots of cats!

Mr. SBC and I visited the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum on a cruise stop in Key West, and it was only a 20-minute walk from the pier. If you’re planning to also visit the famous Southernmost Point Buoy , it’s right down the road.

Disclaimer: I may receive a small commission when you make a purchase from a link on this site, at no added charge to you. For more info, please read my  Disclosure Policy .

If you’d rather not walk that far, the Key West Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley Tour has a stop near the cruise port as well as near the Hemingway House.

Visiting the Hemingway House in Key West

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is located at 907 Whitehead Street, close to the Key West Lighthouse and Museum . Tickets are only available at the gate, so get there early. The line can be long, especially on days when cruise ships are in port.

Admission is $18 for adults, and $7 for children ages 6-12. Kids 5 and under are free. The museum offers discounted rates for groups of 12 or more. Make sure you bring cash because the museum doesn’t accept credit cards.

The Hemingway Home and Museum is open every day, including all holidays, from 9 AM until 5 PM.

Tickets include an optional 30-minute guided tour of the house and grounds, but you’re welcome to explore the property on your own.

We chose to take the tour, which I highly recommend. Our guide, JL, was quite a character! She used the perfect mix of humor and history to keep our group entertained and engaged while we learned about the house and Hemingway’s time in Key West.

History of the Ernest Hemingway Home

The Ernest Hemingway house in Key West is nearly 170 years old, but has been preserved to look much as it did when Hemingway lived there for nine years in the 1930s.

Electricity was added to the house around 1899, and plumbing was installed about 1944, when Key West began receiving piped-in water from Florida City. Prior to that date, the islanders collected rainwater in cisterns, two of which are still on the property today.

The house was the first in Key West to have an upstairs bath with running water (fed by the cistern on the roof), and one of the first with modern plumbing. It was also the first with a swimming pool, installed by Hemingway’s second wife Pauline in 1938.

The Tift family: 1851-1931

Hemingway’s home was originally built in 1851 by Asa Tift, a former naval architect and sea captain from Groton, Connecticut. Tift owned several stores in Key West, along with ships and a large salvaging operation, making him one of the wealthiest men in the area at the time.

To this day, the Hemingway House remains the largest residential property on Key West .

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The home’s location is on the second-highest point on Key West , about 16 feet (4.88 m) above sea level. Tift chose an elevated spot in order to excavate limestone from the property to construct the house. The excavation also allowed for a basement under the home, a rarity on Key West.

Asa Tift was a slave owner, and enslaved people likely were the primary labor source for the excavation, stone cutting, and construction of the home.

Tift owned the home until his death in 1889, living in it alone for much of his life after the death of his wife and two sons from yellow fever in the 1850s, and his daughter’s passing in 1869.

The Hemingways: 1931-1961

After Asa Tift’s death, the home was abandoned and boarded up. But its charm caught the eye of Ernest and Pauline Hemingway when they visited Key West in 1928, the year after their marriage. When Pauline saw that the property would be auctioned in 1931, her uncle Gus purchased the home for $8000 and gave it to the couple as a belated wedding gift.

Hemingway lived in the home with his wife and their two sons from 1931 until 1939. When Hemingway left for Cuba in 1939 to pursue another relationship, Pauline stayed in the home and lived there until her death in 1951. The home remained in Ernest Hemingway’s possession until he died in 1961.

The Dixon family: 1961-present

Bernice Dixon, a local jewelry store owner, bought the house at auction after Hemingway’s death for $80,000. She lived in the home until 1964 when she moved into the guest house and opened the main building as a museum.

Dixon left the property to her family, who continue to operate the Hemingway Home and Museum today.

Exploring the Hemingway House in Key West

Although the tour focused on the writer’s Key West years, our tour guide JL mixed in a bit of Hemingway’s life before and after this period for context. His multiple marriages and affairs, accident-prone nature, and family history of mental health issues certainly shaped his life.

You won’t get a full history of Hemingway’s life and body of work on this 30-minute tour. But even those completely unaware of his story or his impact on American literature will leave with a basic understanding of the legend of this complex man.

The ground floor of the Hemingway House

Our tour of the two-story, 3000-square-foot Spanish Colonial began downstairs in the parlor. This sun-filled room is full of Hemingway memorabilia from various periods along with furniture Pauline collected when she lived in Paris.

We continued past the kitchen with its vintage fixtures and appliances, including a period-appropriate icebox. Although a cordon blocks access to the kitchen and bathrooms, you can certainly peek in and get a glimpse of these spaces.

JL stopped us for a bit at what she called the “ Wall of Wives ” to talk about Hemingway’s four marriages. He certainly followed a rogueish pattern of meeting women, falling desperately in love, and marrying them soon after the last wife served him with divorce papers.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Each new relationship seemed to lead to a change of location, explaining why Hemingway left Key West after less than a decade despite having several productive years there.

Upstairs at the Hemingway House

We made our way upstairs to Hemingway’s bedroom , which features his original bed with a vintage chenille spread. Compared to today’s King and Queen sizes, vintage beds are really small. His double bed looks so short, I wondered how the six-foot man managed to sleep there without his feet hanging off the edge!

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Be sure to check out the adjacent bathroom, with its fantastic yellow-and-black Art Deco tile.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Note: Although the upstairs of the house is only accessible by staircase, museum staff do offer the tour on videotape for those who aren’t able to climb stairs. The property is ADA-compliant, and the first floor and grounds are accessible to those using mobility devices.

Next it was out onto the wide porch that wraps around the second story of the building. With a clear view of the lighthouse from the porch, we learned that this was where a scene in The James Bond film Licence to Kill was filmed. A particularly unskilled sniper managed to miss his shot at Bond from the lighthouse to the gallery!

Hemingway would sometimes joke that he chose the location of the house because of its proximity to the lighthouse. On drunken evenings returning from his favorite bar, Sloppy Joe’s , he’d never get lost making his way home.

ernest hemingway house tour tickets

Around the property

Our short tour outside focused on just the highlights of the grounds, but our guide encouraged us to explore the property as much as we liked after the guided portion of our visit.

The swimming pool and Hemingway’s last red cent

A notable spot on the grounds is the swimming pool, which Pauline built when Hemingway was away covering the Spanish Civil War as a correspondent. Although it was his idea to build a pool, he left the oversight of the project to Pauline while he was away.

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Excavating the limestone for the pool was a massive undertaking, and the project cost $20,000 when construction finished in 1938 (that’s about $365,916 in today’s dollars). When Hemingway returned, he famously shouted, “Pauline, you’ve spent all but my last penny, so you might as well have that!”, throwing a penny down on the flagstone patio.

After their divorce, Pauline enjoyed hosting pool parties, pointing out to her guests Hemingway’s “last red cent” that she had embedded in the concrete near the pool.

The fountains

The Hemingway property has two notable fountains with interesting histories. You’ll notice the first fountain just past the entrance gate. Asa Tift constructed the fountain, and it’s in the form of an ironclad ship.

Tift, despite his Yankee origins, was a staunch Confederate. During the Civil War, he designed and financed an ironclad for the Confederate cause. After the Union victory at Vicksburg, Confederates blew up the ship so it couldn’t be captured by the North.

A view of the ship fountain at the Hemingway House

The second fountain is a Hemingway-era one, and comes with a humorous story. When Joe Russell, Hemingway’s buddy and the owner of Sloppy Joe’s moved his establishment, he enlisted the help of his patrons to transport the contents of the bar to its new location.

Likely fueled by alcohol, Hemingway ripped out the bar’s urinal and brought it home to use as a watering trough for his cats.

Pauline, outraged by the unsightly bathroom fixture prominently displayed in the garden, glued tiles around its edge and added an antique urn to create a fountain. The cats still like to drink from it.

Hemingway’s writing studio

During his time in Key West, Hemingway wrote many notable books and short stories, including Green Hills of Africa ,  Death in the Afternoon ,  To Have and Have Not,  and The Snows of Kilimanjaro . 

His writing studio at the home was on the second floor of the converted carriage house. The spacious studio looks much as it would have in the 1930s. The only typewriter on the property that Hemingway actually used sits on the desk.

A chaise longue in Ernest Hemingway's writing studio

You can access the studio only via a set of steep stairs, and a gate blocks the doorway, but it’s worth climbing up to view this peaceful sanctuary if you can.

The famous Hemingway House cats

In the 1930s, sea captain Stanley Dexter gave Ernest Hemingway a white six-toed cat named Snow White. Currently, the Hemingway House and property is home to between 40 and 50 polydactyl cats , some of which are descendant from the original white cat.

About half of the cats at the museum have six or even seven toes on each front paw, but all the cats carry the polydactyl gene and can pass on the trait to their offspring.

Hemingway loved polydactyl cats, especially because sailors believed they bring good luck. And he needed good luck! Hemingway suffered multiple serious injuries and survived numerous accidents during his life.

As a young man, he almost died from a mortar blast on an Italian battlefield during WWI. During his time on Key West, he accidentally shot himself in both legs while wrangling a shark. While on safari in Africa, Hemingway survived two plane crashes in two days.

Hemingway named all of his cats after famous people, and the tradition continues today. You might find Betty Grable up in a tree, or Joe DiMaggio asleep in the gutter. How often can you say that?

Are the Hemingway cats really lucky?

Did the cats actually bring him the wrong kind of luck, or did they share some of their nine lives with him? The jury’s still out on that one.

Whether or not you believe the Hemingway cats will give you good luck, the cats themselves are certainly lucky. They have the run of the property, and you’ll often find them napping in unexpected places in and around the house. The cats don’t seem to mind their human visitors and enjoy pets and scratches from their adoring fans.

Have you visited the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West? What was your favorite part of the tour? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

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CHELSEA MESSINA

Wednesday 4th of March 2020

We just visited Hemingway's house last year! I would take his office space in that upper flat room any day! Did you get to see the kitties with the weird toes?

Thursday 5th of March 2020

I loved his studio, too! Such a perfect spot for writing :D And yes, we saw the kitties - so cute!

Thanks for the tour of the Hemingway House! I had no idea it was in Key West. I haven't been to this part of Florida, but it's definitely on my list of places to go. This looks like a wonderful stop. I saved it to Pinterest for future reference.

Thanks, Nancy! Hope you get to visit Key West and the Hemingway House!

Tuesday 3rd of March 2020

We are planning a trip to Key West so this is going on our list of places to visit. Good to know what to expect and all the photos etc. Thanks for the inspo.

Slavka, I'm glad you enjoyed my post! Have an amazing time in Key West :D

Thursday 27th of February 2020

If only the walls could talk! Imagine the stories that they would tell about the previous occupants. I’m a big fan of Hemingway, I’d love to visit here. Imagine the parties on those porches and then around the pool once built. The story about the urinal truly made me smile - classic Hemingway.

Saturday 29th of February 2020

I would so love to go back in time to see those parties - I bet there were some wild times there!

Wednesday 26th of February 2020

My boyfriend would love to visit his home. He’s a huge Hemingway fan. We always seem to end up at some Hemingway bar on our trips. I must tell him about this and I’ve always wanted to visit Key West, so a double bonus :)

It sounds like a trip to Key West would be perfect for the two of you! A couple of Hemingway's favorite bars are just a short walk away, too ;)

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  1. Rates/Info

    Hemingway His Life The Pilar His Works The Estate Our Cats ... Tours. Our Tour Rates include a 20-30 minute guided tour ... 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are only available at our main gate. No Reservations are required. Admission Rates. Adult Rates. General Admission - $18 Call Us for our Group Rate (12 + Guests) Office 305.294.1136 .

  2. The Hemingway Home & Museum

    The Cats. Ernest Hemingway was given a white six-toed cat by a ship's captain and some of the cats who live on the museum grounds are descendants of that original cat, named Snow White. Key West is a small island and it is possible that many of the cats on the island are related.

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    1. The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum. Jan 2020. This house is situated at 907 Whitehead Street, Key West.Be prepared to pay in cash at the front desk, credit cards are not accepted. Guided tours are available for those interested, but you can also walk around the house and garden on your own.

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    The Hemingway Home is a National Historic Landmark and Literary Landmark, and recorded at the Library of Congress as an Historic American Building. Learn more. Open daily year-round from 9am - 5pm. 907 Whitehead St., Key West, Florida, 33040. Overview.

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    Here are some tours and tickets near The Ernest Hemmingway Home and Museum, including discount cards & passes, skip the line tickets and tickets to events & activities in Key West. ... The Ernest Hemingway House, located in Key West, Florida, is a significant tourist attraction. This is the house where the renowned author Ernest Hemingway ...

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    Ernest Hemingway's Birthplace Museum just outside Chicago in Oak Park, Illinois ... Back Individual Public Tours Reserved Tour Admission Tickets Group Tour Reservations School Group Tours Hours and Location Tour Information Foreign language tours ... The restoration, which began in 1992, authentically returned the house to its 1890s ...

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    The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. 907 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida, 33040-7473. 305-294-1136. Distance from hotel: 0.50 mile. Visit Website. Category: Family / Kids. Write A Review.

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    From Miami: Key West Bus Tour. Embark on a full-day tour of Key West from Miami. Feel the Caribbean atmosphere of the Florida Keys and explore at your own pace. See important sites, including Hemingway's House, or opt to swim in the sea. Start with a 4-hour drive across 43 bridges and 31 islands to America's "Caribbean Islands," the ...

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    907 Whitehead St. Key West, FL 33040. (305) 294-1136. Visit Website More in Key West. Ernest Hemingway called Key West home for nearly a decade. It's where he became a regular at Sloppy Joe's Bar, fell in love with deep-sea fishing, and found his inspiration for The Old Man and the Sea.

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    Tours & Tickets; The Basics. The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, in the building where Hemingway lived from 1931 to 1939, offers an intimate glimpse into the Nobel Prize winner's life. Walk along the narrow pathway through the luscious gardens overflowing with tropical plants, or check out the round wooden desk where one of Key West's most ...

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    The first tour starts at 9:20am, and tours run every twenty minutes with the last tour beginning at 4:40pm. Admission: $16 per adult. Children ages 6-12 are $6, children 5 and under are FREE. Cash and credit card are both accepted, and you can purchase tickets online. Hemingway's Key West Home has stayed exactly as he left it. Buying Tickets

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  17. Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum Tours and Tickets

    The Hemingway Home is a National Historic Landmark and Literary Landmark, and recorded at the Library of Congress as an Historic American Building. Learn more. Open daily year-round from 9am - 5pm. 907 Whitehead St., Key West, Florida, 33040. Overview.

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    Please call, 708-445-3071, during the below hours to confirm availability for the day. Thursday: 1:00PM - 5:00PM. Friday: 1:00PM - 5:00PM. Saturday: 10:00AM - 5:00PM. Sunday: 1:00PM - 5:00PM. Tours run at the top of each hour. For the most up-to-date opening hours, visit Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Home's website.

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