Key West residents are known for being eccentric. If the Christmas décor of this house is any indication, I would say that’s a pretty accurate assessment. Just around the corner from this house was a little secondhand bookstore so, of course, I had to stop in. I practiced restraint and only got one book and a handful of vintage-y postcards.
Our next stop was The Hemingway House Museum. The boy wanted to see it and, although I had been there before, I was happy to tour the home again.
All of the furniture is original to the home during the time that Hemingway lived there.
Hemingway’s 2nd wife, Pauline, replaced all the ceiling fans in the house with these chandeliers. The headboard of the master bed is actually a gate from a 17th century Spanish monastery.
The kitty fountain (for the almost 50 polydactyl – six-toed – cats that live on the property) was built in 1933 and is made from an olive jar imported from Cuba and… a discarded urinal from the original Sloppy Joe’s Bar!
Pauline had the pool built to surprise Hemingway. It cost $20,000. Surprise!
Hemingway’s writing studio, preserved as it was originally, including his chair, table and 1920s Royal manual typewriter.
Family photos and the master bath.
Close-up of the floor tiles and the family’s personal book collection.
Memorabilia from the family’s personal archives and the kitchen.
Part 3 coming up soon…
