Ernest Hemingway's House

The Hemingway house is charming.  It is a mix of ordinary and quirky.  The house was built by Asa Tift in 1851.  Hemingway bought it when he was just 31 years old.  The house is 16 feet above sea level and has 18 inch thick walls, so it has never been flooded or damaged by hurricanes.  The rooms are all big and square with high ceilings.  There are floor to ceiling windows which let in light and air.  The kitchen looks just like your grandmother's kitchen:  square with white appliances set around the walls.

There are several quirky parts.  There is a swimming pool that Pauline, his fourth wife and the wife who lived here, had built while Ernest was in Europe.  There is a urinal that Ernest brought home after the pool construction.  (He was not happy about Pauline's spending his"last penny" on the pool.) She added tile to the urinal and turned it  into  a water trough for the cats.

This sits near the pool.

The most quirky part of the house is the many cats that roam through it.  They look well cared for, and our guide called them by name and gave out treats.  

This sign greets visitors.

This curtain detail is seen from the outside.

This kitty jumped up onto the bed and was given treats there.

 Here you see the guide with a bunch that look alike.

We saw Hemingway's small study, which was upstairs in a separate building, attached by an elevated walkway to the rest of the house.  He used a Royal typewriter, just like I used in college.  

There was plenty of natural light, a small table and chair with the typewriter and a lounge chair to the left, which is out of my photo.  Just the essentials for the writer.  George was inspired to read A Farewell to Arms by our visit.