Finca Vigia--Papa Hemingway's Cuban Home

                                            

Hemingway's Study

In the village of San Francisco de Pala, about 10 to 15 miles from Havana, is a pink, limestone villa, Finca Vigia (Lookout Farm--including 15 acres), home to Ernest Hemingway when he lived in Cuba during the 1940s and 1950s. He grew to love Cuba and its people; as they did him. So much so, that they called him "Papa", expressing their warmth toward him. He, in turn, donated his 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature to Cuba. He experienced a great deal of privacy with his writing at Finca Vigia which he valued. Although apolitical, he was pleased that Fidel Castro brought down Batista in the Revolution. But Hemingway left Cuba shortly thereafter and returned to his home in the States, specifically Ketchum, Idaho in 1961. Just a few months after his return, it was in Ketchum that he took his life.

Finca Vigia eventually became a Cuban Government Museum. It sets on a hill, a lovely location, surrounded by gardens, patios, porches,  pergolas, and a swimming pool. This is the front door of the villa. Visitors are not allowed to enter the house; they must look through the windows and the French doors. Not all windows are open. But visitors are free to take photographs; however, I'm a challenged photographer, so I found it a bit difficult to take photographs through windows. 

                                                                                                         

This is the side entrance to the villa. At the top of the stairs, at the corner of the home, is the location of Papa's bedroom. He apparently did a lot of writing in his bedroom, mostly standing up at a typewriter. Notice the typewriter in the photo of his room below. On the right, on top of the bookcase.

                                                                           

It is said that the villa was in the order in which he left it at his departure. However, an unfinished manuscript, his last, A Moveable Feast, a memoir of his time in Paris as a young man, was found and published by members of his family as a restored edition. Hemingway's working papers, manuscripts, and other items are found at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. I learned this when I visited the JFK Library a few years ago, but there are limitations on who can use the Hemingway collection-- those conducting academic research mostly. 

                                                                                    

Dining Room--I wonder if guests dined on the animals on the walls?

Living Room into Dining Room

Guest Room--Maybe Ava Gardner slept here?

Other side of guest room.

Goes without saying.

The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway's boat, Pilar

Next to the Pilar, the dog cemetery.

For those who are wondering, Hemingway lived in his Key West house in the 1930s. I have not visited it, but have seen numerous photos. It appears to be far more historically elegant and meticulously decorated. Very much a show place. The villa in Cuba appears far more comfortable, relaxing, and laid back. Maybe that's why Papa liked Cuba so much.

I still have more to share!

It is said that there were 4,000-6,000 books found in the home.