Hemingway House

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Lonely Planet review

Key West's biggest darling, Ernest Hemingway, lived in this gorgeous Spanish-colonial house from 1931 to 1940. Poppa moved here in his early 30s with wife No 2, a Vogue fashion editor and (former) friend of wife No 1. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and The Green Hills of Africa were produced here.

But Hemingway didn't just work; like all writers he wasted a lot of time, specifically by installing Key West's first saltwater swimming pool. The construction project set him back so badly he pressed his 'last penny' into the cement on the pool's deck. It's still there today, along with the evil descendants of his famous six-toed cat, who basically rule the house and grounds. The author's old studio is preserved as he left it - when he ran off in 1940 with wife No. 3.