Hemingway Home and Museum

The Hemingway Home in Key West is best known for its lush gardens, six-toed cats, and connection to literary legend Ernest Hemingway. But beneath the tropical charm and typewriter clatter lies a darker energy—one that many say hasn’t left since Hemingway’s time.

Though Hemingway died by suicide in Idaho, his spirit is rumored to have returned to the home he loved most. Visitors and staff have reported the smell of cigar smoke, the sound of typing in the empty writing studio, and even sightings of a tall, bearded man watching silently from the windows. Cold spots, flickering lights, and feelings of being watched are common, especially in the upstairs bedroom and writer’s loft.

Some believe Hemingway’s attachment to the home—where he wrote To Have and Have Not and endured a turbulent marriage—left a psychic imprint strong enough to linger. Others say it’s the energy of the land itself, soaked in Key West’s layered, often tragic past.

Ghostly or not, one thing is certain: the Hemingway House holds more than just literary history—some say it still holds Hemingway himself.