ERNEST HEMMINGWAY'S FAMOUS KEY WEST SWIMMING POOL!

Regular price $2,495.00 Sale

Before the pool, the garden was home to Hemingway’s own personal boxing ring where he would train and spar with locals. Legend has it that whilst Hemingway was away working as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, he fell in love with wife number three Martha Gellhorn. Back in Key West, second wife Pauline Pfeiffer heard about the affair and replaced the author’s beloved boxing ring with the pool out of spite.

Built in 1938, the swimming pool at Hemingway's Home in Key West is extraordinary even by today’s standards. This massive pool is 24’ wide and 60’ long. The shallow end of the pool starts at 5’ in depth and extends from north to south. The maximum depth at the south end is 10’ deep, giving it a total volume of 80,784 gallons.

The pool cost $20,000 to build, which translates into $365,670 in 2020! Ernest complained constantly to his wife Pauline about the ever-growing cost of the pool. Legend has it that he tossed a penny onto the patio and exclaimed, “Pauline, you’ve spent all but my last penny, so you might as well have that!” Nobody knows for sure if that story is entirely true, but you can still see the penny embedded in the cement near the pool to this day!

Presented as a limited-edition, fine art print on archival paper with a hand-torn deckled-edge.

Small edition of only 10 prints and 1 Artist Proof print.

Measures approx. 27” x 36" in flat black frame.