You’re standing on Whitehead Street, the humidity is basically a physical weight on your shoulders, and you’re staring at a massive chunk of limestone. This is it. Hemingway’s Key West home.
Most people come for the cats. Honestly, I get it. Who doesn’t want to see a bunch of six-toed felines acting like they own a National Historic Landmark? But if you think this place is just a fuzzy petting zoo with some old books inside, you’re missing the real story. This house was a fortress, a scandal, and a massive money pit that almost broke a marriage.
The House That Wrecking Built
Long before Ernest "Papa" Hemingway showed up with his typewriters and his thirst, the property at 907 Whitehead Street belonged to Asa Tift. He was a "wrecker," which is a polite 19th-century way of saying he got rich off shipwrecks.
Tift built the place in 1851.
He used native limestone hewn right from the ground where the house stands. That’s why there’s a basement. You don’t see many basements in Key West because the island is basically a glorified sandbar, but Tift literally dug out the stone for his walls, leaving a hole that became one of the few subterranean spots in the city.
By the time Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, rolled into town in 1928, the place was a wreck. Boards on the windows. Peeling paint. It looked like a haunted house.
Pauline’s Uncle Gus—a man with deep pockets—bought it for them in 1931 for about $8,000 in back taxes. That sounds like a steal, but wait until you hear about the pool.
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Why the Swimming Pool Still Matters
If you walk into the backyard today, you’ll see this gorgeous, deep-blue pool. In the 1930s, this wasn't just a luxury; it was a middle finger to the rest of the island.
It was the first in-ground pool in Key West.
It cost $20,000.
To put that in perspective, the pool cost two and a half times more than the actual house. Hemingway was away covering the Spanish Civil War while Pauline oversaw the construction. When he got back and saw the bill, he reportedly went ballistic.
He took a penny out of his pocket, pressed it into the wet cement of the patio, and told Pauline she might as well take his last cent. You can still see that penny today. It’s embedded near the north end of the pool.
Practical tip: Don't just look at the water. Look for that penny. It’s the ultimate symbol of the Hemingway family drama.
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Hemingway’s Key West Home and the Six-Toed Residents
We have to talk about the cats. They are everywhere. They’re on the beds, they’re in the gift shop, and they’re definitely in the gardens.
The legend goes that a sea captain named Stanley Dexter gave Hemingway a white polydactyl cat named Snow White. Sailors loved these cats because their extra toes supposedly gave them better balance on stormy seas. Plus, they were apparently better at catching mice.
Today, about 50 or 60 cats live on the grounds. Roughly half have the physical "mitten" paws, but all of them carry the gene.
What the tours don't always emphasize:
- The Names: Every single cat is named after a famous person. You might find "Marilyn Monroe" napping on the porch or "Joe DiMaggio" stalking a lizard.
- The Care: These aren't strays. There’s a full-time veterinarian who comes to the house to check on them. They have their own "cat cemetery" on the property with little headstones.
- The Lawsuit: Believe it or not, the federal government (USDA) once tried to regulate the cats under the Animal Welfare Act, claiming the museum was essentially a zoo. The museum fought back, and the cats stayed.
Inside the Writing Studio: Where the Magic (and Sweat) Happened
The writing studio is tucked away in the loft of the old carriage house. It’s connected to the main house by a second-story catwalk that Pauline had built so Ernest could roll out of bed and get straight to work without dealing with the kids or the household chaos.
He wrote from 6 AM until noon. Every day.
This is where he finished A Farewell to Arms and wrote To Have and Have Not. The room is Spartan. A round table, a Royal typewriter, and some cigars. It feels remarkably still, considering the man who worked there lived a life that was anything but.
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Interestingly, Hemingway didn’t drink while he worked. He saved the "playing hard" part for the afternoons at Sloppy Joe’s.
Speaking of Sloppy Joe's, there's a fountain in the garden that looks suspiciously like a urinal. That’s because it is a urinal. Hemingway literally dragged it home from the bar when they were renovating, arguing that he’d poured enough money into it over the years that he deserved to own it. Pauline, being a woman of class, covered it in tiles and turned it into a water feature for the cats.
Navigating Your Visit in 2026
If you’re planning to visit Hemingway’s Key West home, you need to know that this isn't a "show up and scan a QR code" kind of place. They are very old-school.
Bring Cash. Seriously. They don't take credit cards at the gate. As of now, it's about $18 for adults, but prices fluctuate, so keep a twenty and some singles on you.
Go Early.
The gates open at 9:00 AM. By 11:00 AM, the cruise ship crowds descend, and the "tropical tranquility" turns into a crowded hallway. If you want to actually see the writing studio without a stranger's elbow in your ribs, be there when the doors open.
Take the Tour.
The guides are Key West locals who have been doing this for decades. They know the gossip. They know which cat is "the grumpy one" (usually whoever is named after a difficult actor). The tour only takes 30 minutes, and then you’re free to roam the gardens on your own.
Actionable Takeaways for Your Trip:
- Check the Lighthouse: Across the street is the Key West Lighthouse. Legend has it Hemingway used its beam to find his way home after too many mojitos. It’s worth the climb for the view of the property.
- Pet, Don't Pick Up: The cats are friendly, but they are the kings of the castle. You can pet them, but if you try to pick one up, the staff will be on you faster than a marlin on a hook.
- Look for the "Last Penny": It’s near the pool. It’s a tiny detail that tells a huge story about the tension between Ernest and Pauline.
- Visit the Bookstore: It’s located in the old slave quarters/kitchen area. It has one of the best collections of Hemingway’s works and local Florida Keys history you'll find anywhere.
Key West has changed a lot since the 1930s. It’s more "t-shirt shops" and "frozen drinks" than "rugged fishing village" now. But inside those limestone walls, with the fans spinning and the cats lounging, it still feels like 1935. You can almost smell the tobacco and the salt air. It’s a rare piece of preserved history that actually lives up to the hype.