Hemmingway Home

This home was built by a man named Tift in the 1800s. He owned a salvage operation in Key West and made lots of money. It's the only home in the Keys to have a basement. The rock quarried was used to build the house.

Hemmingway's Studio/Office

This used to be the carriage house on the Hemmingway property. He had the upper level (hay loft) turned into his office.

Hemmingway's Studio/Office

This is where Hemmingway did his writing. He used to tell his publisher that the Royal typewriter he used made more spelling mistakes than any other.

The Hemmingway Pool

The pool cost $22,000 to build because it had to be dug by hand. The Keys are all granite and fossil coral. Pauline (his second wife) couldn't get a dynamite permit, so it had to be dug by hand. To put this in perspective, the house only cost $8,000. Ernest was not very happy since Pauline had it built while he was in Spain for 6 months or so. And she had it built where his boxing ring used to be.

Sugarloaf Key: Slept late this morning. No hangover though. A cloudy morning. So we decided to drive into Key West and go back to the Hemmingway home. We were there a couple of years ago, but it’s always fun to go back. I bought “A Farewell to Arms” to read. Have never read anything of Hemmingway’s. I have lots of interesting books to read. After leaving the Hemmingway home we stopped at Meteor for a couple of drinks and then drove back. Ran into Floyd and Terry on the way to our site and decided the four of us would go to Little Palm Island next Sunday. Should be fun. Baked some tilapia fillets for dinner. Staying in tonight.