Hemingway's House in Key West

As an English major in college, I studied Ernest Hemingway. I admit I wasn't all that interested in his novels--I was more into writers like Jane Austen and George Eliot, to be honest. But I think if I had seen the house Hemingway lived and wrote in during the most prolific time of his career--with those gorgeous yellow shutters!--I might have paid a little more attention in my Modern Lit class.

According to the Hemingway Home website:

Legend has it that Hemingway owned the home from 1931 until his passing in 1961. The Spanish Colonial style home was constructed of native rock hewn from the grounds and boasts the first pool built in Key West. The pool, built in the late 1930's, cost $20,000. This price prompted Hemingway to take a penny from his pocket and press it into the wet cement of the surrounding patio and announce jokingly, "Here, take the last penny I've got!" That penny is still there.

Ernest Hemingway with one of his cats, whose descendants still roam the grounds of the property today:

According to the Hemingway Home website:

The story goes that Hemingway made the acquaintance of a sea captain who owned an unusual six-toed tomcat. Upon his departure from Key West, the captain presented the cat to Hemingway. Today many of the numerous cats that inhabit the grounds still possess the unusual six toes.

To see more photos from Hemingway's home in Key West, check out Carl Miller's gallery.