The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum

• February 21, 2009
• Rated 5 of 5 by Travel'in Gal from Mantua, Ohio

This was a fun tour and my husband and I really enjoyed looking at the house and gardens. The house and grounds are interesting for their history and uniqueness. There are many fun stories about Hemingway, his wives, and his life in and out of Key West. There are some artifacts, and furniture-his studio is just the way he left it. Hemingway only lived there for 9 years. The tour guide is well rehearsed, and is clearly favoring you (in his mind) with his performance, which he himself is clearly bored with. He then offers to answer questions if you are tipping, and does not have time if you don't. When only one of us tipped, he commented on how "I see only one of you gets it" and walked away shaking his head and muttering under his breathe.

Had the tour been free or a token donation, I could understand this, but it was $24 to get in which would seem to be more than enough to pay for a 30 minute group tour with out needing to supplement his pay. I would not go on about this so much if it had not completely ruined what had been an enjoyable tour. If your tour guide is a short graying man with a salt and pepper beard, I would suggest you wait for the next tour.

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Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum

• April 8, 2008
• Rated 5 of 5 by TriformToaster from Barrington, Rhode Island

We visited Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West. It was very enjoyable. The tour guide was knowledgeable and very funny. The stories about his personal life and cats were amusing. I recommend this to tour to everyone.

From journal A few days in Key West

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Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum

• August 20, 2006
• Rated 5 of 5 by two cruisers from Ames, Iowa

The house was built by Asa Tift on the highest point on the island. It was built from coral blocks that were cut from the property. The hole in the ground where the blocks were cut from became a basement, a very rare thing to have in Florida. The house is virtually hurricane proof and the basement is always dry. Hemingway had visited Key West often before he bought this house at a tax auction for $8,000. He lived here from 1931 until 1940 with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer and their two sons. He was absent a lot. Short absences were to the bars on Duval Street. Longer ones were to Cuba. During one of those trips, Pamela had a $20,000 swimming pool installed. He was so furious at the expense, he pressed his last penny into the cement on the pool’s deck. This wasn’t the first decorating project Pamela undertook at the house. She was an editor for Vogue magazine, and tried to bring the house up to that standard. She removed all the paddle fans and installed Venetian glass Chandeliers. The marriage didn’t last and the divorce settlement favored Pamela. He did manage to get some writing done in the upper floor room of the carriage house. Books from this era include: "A Farewell to Arms", "Death in the Afternoon", "To Have and Have Not" and he started "For whom the Bell Tolls."

The Hemingway boys had a cat named Snowball who had six toes on each foot. The grounds of the estate now are the home to about 63 six-toed cats. We were allowed to pet them but not pick them up. The tour started in the living room where we saw an original Picasso, a lot of hunting trophies and some unusual souvenirs from Papa Hemingway's world travels. Across the wide center hall that ran the length of the house was the dining room. Over the table was one of Pauline’s Venetian glass chandeliers. Ugly. A large side board housed the Hemingway liquor supply. From what we heard, bottles didn’t have time to get dusty. Upstairs the master bedroom is as large as the living room. A rope around the bed was to keep tourists off, but all the estates cats are welcome to nap there. The oversize bed has an unusual headboard. It is made from a gate. Above that is an original painting by Henry Faulkner depicting this house. An unusual set of chairs were also in this room. One was a birthing chair and the other was a midwife’s chair. A shaded veranda surrounded the second floor. We walked on it to get to the boys bedroom on the west side of the house. They also had a playroom and a lovely large bathroom that was the first second floor bathroom in Key West.
A small gift shop is in the pool house. The house/museum is open 365 days a year and the cost was $11/adult.

From journal Key West Kudos

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Hemingway House

• July 19, 2006
• Rated 4 of 5 by Tolik from Tampa, Florida

You should visit the former house of Ernest Hemingway. It was bought for Pauline and Ernest Hemingway by Pauline's uncle Gus in 1931 (Pauline was Ernest's 2nd wife). The Hemingway House is the only house in Key West with a basement and the first house on the island to get indoor plumbing, fireplace, and a swimming pool (Hemingway was outraged at what the pool ended up costing).The famous author owned the home until his death in 1961, and he lived there with countless cats, whose descendants, including the famed six-toed cats, still roam the premises. Hemingway built the brick wall around the house in an effort to get some privacy from the crowds of tourists.

It was during those years that the Nobel Prize winner wrote some of his most greatest works, including “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, “A Farewell to Arms”, Death in the Afternoon” , and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”. Hardware store owner Charles Thompson introduced him to deep sea fishing. Among the group that went fishing was Joe Russell (also known as Sloppy Joe).

Definitely take the guided tour (45 min. or so); the guide will tell you interesting stories and offer insights and anecdotes into the Hemingway’s, the house and the town. You will see rooms of his house with glass cabinets that store artifacts, books, and his study. Hemingway had a lot of friends in Key West, and many of them appeared as characters in his novel "To Have and Have Not" which is about Key West during the depression.

Even if you're not a Hemingway fan, the place is worth the visit for the house's architecture and lovely garden.

From journal Exploring Key West

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Hemingway House

• October 4, 2005
• Rated 5 of 5 by notso62 from Boston, Massachusetts

The Hemingway House was an unexpected pleasurable historical tour. I stumbled upon it quite by accident when I was parking on the street right across from the sight. Since I had heard such wonderful things about it from the locals, I decided to take a gander inside. For only $5 admission, it wasn't even a second thought- so I purchased my ticket and embarked on a tour.

I was never a big Hemingway fan (something about the womanizing, drunken rumors that always turned me off), but the tour guides completly played up these colorful parts of Hemingway's past and made them seem almost charming. From the tales of his ex-wive's taste in decorations and her penchant to drive Ernest crazy, to the reason why he selected this house (the lighthouse acrossed the street assured he'd find his way home from the bar). It changed my opinion of Hemingway quite a bit.

The tour guides here were very knowledgable and colorful, spinning tales and yarns about Hemingway as well as giving factual information about the premises. It was very entertaining.

Perhaps my favorite part of the tour was finding out that Hemingway, like myself, was a cat lover. Almost 70 cats inhabit the grounds today and are cared for by the caretakers. Some are descendents of Hemingway's lucky cats (they have 6 toes!) and they all have names after famous writers.

This was well worth the small price of the admission and I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Key West!

From journal Key West, Florida

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