The Key West house where Hemingway wrote nine books and inherited 40 cats. Ernest Hemingway wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he did inherit a rather extraordinary silver collar, one worn by a cat named Snow White. This wasn't just any cat, and it wasn't just any collar. Snow White was a six toed feline, a genetic quirk that would become a defining characteristic of the clowder living at 907 Whitehead Street, Hemingway's Key West home. The story goes that a sea captain, enchanted by Hemingway's writing or perhaps just his larger than life persona, gifted him the unique polydactyl cat. From this one peculiar creature, a dynasty grew. Over the years, Snow White's descendants, many of them carrying the six toed trait, multiplied. By the time of Hemingway's death in 1961, his beloved Key West abode was home to approximately 40 cats, a veritable feline kingdom. Hemingway, it seems, was quite fond of these whiskered companions. He named them after famous people, a playful habit that continues today with the current residents of the estate. Imagine a Hemingway story unfolding not just on paper, but amidst the quiet rustle of cats named after presidents, movie stars, and literary figures, all padding softly through the rooms where some of his most iconic works were penned. His connection to these animals was more than mere tolerance. He was known to be a keen observer of their habits, their silent language. It’s not hard to picture him, taking a break from the typewriter, watching a six toed cat stalk a lizard in the lush garden. These weren't just pets; they were part of the fabric of his creative life in Key West, silent muses, furry companions. Today, the Hemingway Home and Museum remains a sanctuary for these special cats. Around 50 descendants of Snow White still roam the grounds, each one a living link to the legendary author. They are cared for by the museum staff, carrying on a legacy that is as much about literature as it is about the gentle thump of a cat's paws on a sun warmed floor. This continued presence of the polydactyl cats is a testament to the author's enduring eccentricities and his affection for the natural world around him.

A wedding present from an uncle

Pauline Pfeiffer, Ernest Hemingway's second wife, had an uncle named Gus who was rich. In 1931, Gus bought them a house for $8,000, covering back taxes. It was located at 907 Whitehead Street in Key West, a Spanish Colonial built in 1851 from limestone quarried right there on the property.

They arrived from Paris. Hemingway turned the hayloft of the carriage house into his writing studio. Each morning, he would climb to it using a rope and plank catwalk that stretched from the master bedroom. In that studio, over about nine years, he wrote the majority of To Have and Have Not, Green Hills of Africa, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and Death in the Afternoon.

Snow White

In 1934, a sea captain named Stanley Dexter gave Hemingway a white six toed kitten. He called her Snow White. Sailors thought polydactyl cats cats with extra toes on their front paws were lucky. They believed the extra toes helped them keep their balance on a rocking ship deck.

Snow White's offspring never left. Today, around 60 cats live at the Hemingway Home, and about half of them are polydactyl. They all have names, usually after famous people. Hemingway started this tradition. They sleep, completely undisturbed, on the beds, chairs, and manuscript display cases throughout the house museum.