Built by 1851 by Asa Tift, a captain and ship’s architect, the house (the single largest residential property on the island) was bought by Ernest “Papa” Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, in 1931 at a cost of $8,000 (it was actually a wedding gift from Pauline’s wealthy uncle, Gus). The couple lived there with their two sons, Patrick and Gregory (Ernest divorced Pauline in 1940 and married Martha Gelhorn three weeks later). Hemingway reportedly wrote the final draft of A Farewell to Arms, as well as classic short stories such as “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” at the house. He created a writing studio in the second floor of a carriage house on the property that was connected to the master bedroom by a walkway. A boxing aficionado, Hemingway built a ring in the backyard where he often sparred with local fighters. An in-ground, saltwater pool was added in 1938 at a cost of $20,000. Hemingway hired his friend and handyman Toby Bruce to build a high brick wall around the house as privacy from tourists anxious to catch a glimpse of the famous writer. Hemingway also hauled away a urinal from Sloppy Joe’s Bar to the house and turned it into a fountain in the yard. Approximately 40 to 50 polydactyl (six-toed) cats currently live on the grounds of the Hemingway Home. According to legend, the cats are descendants of Hemingway’s own six-toed cat, Snowball (however, Patrick has denied that his father owned any cats in Key West, only at his residence in Cuba, Finca Vigia). Designated a National Historic Landmark, the Ernest Hemingway Home is located at 907 Whitehead Street (across from the Key West Lighthouse).