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Ernest Hemingway House & Museum

One of the famous six-toed cats.

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.

Portraits inside the Hemingway House & Museum.
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