The Hemingway Home and Museum, USA

If you are visiting the Florida Keys as part of your east coast yacht charter itinerary, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the former residence of Ernest Hemingway, located on the popular island of Key West.

Built in the Spanish Colonial style in 1851, Hemingway and his first wife Pauline fell in love with the ramshackle building when they were looking for more permanent residence on the Floridian island, and Pauline’s Uncle Gus purchased the house on Whitehead Street for them in 1931.

The couple lovingly restored the building to its former glory, including installing a vast swimming pool - the only in-ground pool for 100 miles at the time. Excavations into the coral bed were laborious and took many months. The pool was said to have cost over $20,000, which was an incredible sum in the 1930s.

The vast swimming pool built for Hemingway and his wife in their Key West home

There is an enduring anecdote that Hemingway, prompted by the exorbitant costs, took a penny from his pocket and pressed it into the still-wet cement and declared, “Here, take the last penny I’ve got!”. The penny can still be seen today at the north end of the pool.

Today, visitors can enjoy taking a tour of the house and grounds, where much of Hemingway's personal effects still adorn the rooms. Budding writers will be thrilled to stand in the study and see the typewriter upon which Hemingway toiled for long hours creating some of his finest literary works.

There are also many European antiques pieces throughout the house, as well as trophy mounts and skins that were souvenirs of the couple’s various expeditions abroad.

One of the most notable legacies from the Hemingways’ occupation of the house, are the array of felines that roam freely throughout the house and gardens today. According to the lore, the writer took a shine to a captain friend’s six-toed tomcat during his stay, and was subsequently given the cat as a present on the captain’s departure from the island. Named Snow White, a few of the cats today are descendants of this unique polydactyl (six-toed) tomcat.

Six-toed cats at the Hemingway House and Museum in Key West, Florida

The museum is open daily for walk-in visits.

If you're interested in visiting Key West and want to incorporate the Hemingway House and Museum into your charter itinerary, please speak with a recommended yacht charter broker.

Alternatively, you can begin planning your next vacation by viewing the entire fleet of superyachts available for USA yacht charters.