History
This was Hemingway's home from 1931 to 1939. It is a private, for-profit landmark and tourist attraction now populated by six and seven-toed cats that guides claim are descendants of Hemingway's cats. The author's second son, Patrick, who lived in the house, stated in a 1994 interview in the Miami Herald's "Tropic" that his father had peacocks in Key West, but no cats; he owned cats in Cuba. In a 1972 L.A. Times interview, Hemingway's widow Mary denounced the sale of "Hemingway cats" by the owners of the house as "An outright lie. Rank exploitation of Ernest's name." The house no longer sells cats, but does continue a selective breeding program for them.
It was in this house that he did some of his best work, including the short story classics "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."
The house stands at an elevation of 16 feet above sea level, but is still the second-highest site on the island. It was originally built by Asa Tift, a marine architect and salvage wrecker, in 1851 in colonial southern mansion style, out of limestone quarried from the site. As testament to its construction and location, it survived many hurricanes, and the deep basement remained, and remains, dry.
The Hemingways had spent the previous three years living in Key West but had rented housing, the last being a two story home at 1301 Whitehead Street. Pauline (the writer's second wife) found the Tift house in 1931, for sale at a tax auction. Pauline's uncle Gus bought it for her and Ernest, for $8,000 cash, and presented it to them as a wedding gift.
Read more about this topic: Ernest Hemingway House
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