Papa’s Writing Loft

The upper floor of Ernest Hemingway’s house is surrounded by a walkway with a wrought iron railing. He installed a connecting walkway to a loft over the garage on his property. It was in this loft where Hemingway wrote many of his masterpieces. This walkway to the loft was destroyed in a hurricane and has not been replaced.

When Hemingway was writing he would get up early, cross over from his bedroom to his loft and write until the afternoon heat came at which time he would walk around town, stopping at one or more of his watering holes along the way, likely including the original Sloppy Joe’s on Greene Street where he would exchange stories with his friends.

My friend Calypso commented on the fact that the room and desk do not look very comfortable. I agree but Hemingway had a war injury in the... uh... "buttocks" area that prevented him from sitting comfortably and probably dictated the type of chair he could use. I understand he actually typed standing up much of the time.

For those of you born after 1970 or so, the thing in the middle of the table is a typewriter. In this case a Remington. It is the same typewriter that sits on his desk in his preserved room in the Hotel Ambos Mundos in La Habana Vieja (Old Havana), Cuba. This room is pictured in the last photo.