On the island of Key West there is a french colonial house on Whitehead street. Its a two story house with light colored limestone walls. Each floor is lined with long arched windows abutted with green shutters. A veranda wraps around the house shading it from the Floridian sun. This is the house that Ernest Hemingway lived in during the 1930s. His time living here was one of the most productive in his life.
I was fortunate to get the chance to visit last April. From the street there is a short stone path lined with tropical flora to the front door of this old house. The historical society that preserves the house has restored it to look close to what it did when Hemingway lived there. The interior is filled with photographs from all phases of his life. There a dozen six toed cats roaming the house that are descended from Hemingways original pet cats. The cats take naps on the antique furniture that protected by the ropes holding the tourists back. A door on the second floor leads out to the veranda. In the distance you can see the Atlantic ocean, below you in the gardens and the swimming pool.
Behind the house, is a small building, and on the second story is Hemingway’s writing studio. It looks like how you would imagine, dark wooden furniture, a type writing, shelves of books, and a deer head on the wall. It’s easy to imagine Hemingway in there writing To Have and Have Not. Gazing into that space is a special experience.
