Ernest Hemingway House

The Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida, is a Spanish Colonial-style home best known as the residence of author Ernest Hemingway from 1931 to 1939. The property is preserved and interpreted today as the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum.

Public tours cover the house’s rooms, Hemingway’s upstairs writing studio, and the surrounding tropical gardens; the site is also notable for its resident polydactyl cat colony of roughly 40 animals. The museum presents period furnishings and displays related to Hemingway’s life and work in Key West.

The house was built in the mid-19th century and later acquired by Hemingway in 1931; he lived and worked there through much of the 1930s, producing and revising several works during that period. Ownership and use changed after Hemingway’s residency and the property was eventually opened to the public as a museum.

Situated in Old Town Key West, the property is part of the island’s historic district and is a short walk from other downtown attractions and waterfront areas.

• Location and access: Located in Key West's Old Town at 907 Whitehead Street, the property is operated as a museum and regularly offers guided tours of the house and grounds.
• Cats: A colony of polydactyl (extra-toed) cats lives on the property; the animals are descendants of Hemingway's own cats and number around 40.

What to See #

• House and studio: The main house is a Spanish Colonial-style building where visitors tour rooms, the writer's second-floor office, and period furnishings dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Gardens and cat colony: Gardens include tropical plantings and shaded paths that surround the house and link the main structure with the writing studio; the site is known for its resident polydactyl cats descended from Hemingway's pets.