A few days ago I wrote about the view from the Key West
Lighthouse. At the center of the photo above you can see the Ernest Hemingway
home. The home was built by Asa Tift in 1851 and became Hemingway’s home in
1931. At 16 feet above sea level, it is the second highest point in Key West.
The home is one of very few of the island homes with a basement.
Above is a photograph of the pool which was completed in 1938.
Ernest was traveling and left the details of construction of the pool to his
wife Pauline. The pool is 24 by 60 and 10 feet deep at one end, and 5 feet deep
at the other. The cost of construction was $20,000 in 1938. At the time, it was the only pool within 100 miles. Ernest complained
that Pauline had spent all but his last penny and she might as well have that
too. He placed a penny in wet concrete at the end of the pool. The penny is
still there, covered with Plexiglas for protection and to be sure it will
remain there for future visitors. See the photo below.
When visiting the Hemingway home, be sure to notice the cats
– not that you could miss the 40-50 cats on the property. Most of these cats
have 6 toes on their front feet and are descendants of a six-toed cat given to
Hemingway by a sea captain. Six-toed cats are known as polydactyl. Below is a
photo I took of one of the unusual cats on the Hemingway estate. When I was growing up in Rodney Ohio we had a
couple of the six-toed cats. We called the feature “mitten paws.”
There are many more interesting facts and stories about the
Hemingway home, but I’ll let you find these on your own. When visiting Key
West, it’s a stop you’ll want to make.
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