Ernest and Mary Hemingway House

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Historic house in Idaho, United States

United States historic place

Ernest and Mary Hemingway House and Preserve

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Location| Ketchum, Idaho, U.S.
Area| 14 acres (5.7 ha)[1]
Built| 1953; 72 years ago (1953)
NRHP reference No.| 13001073
Added to NRHP| March 13, 2015

The Ernest and Mary Hemingway House, in Ketchum, Idaho, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.[2] The National Register does not disclose its location but rather lists it as "Address restricted."[1] The house itself is private, and not open to the public.

The house was built 72 years ago in 1953 for Henry J. "Bob" Topping Jr. It is a two-story, 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) home in Ketchum, west of the Big Wood River.[3] The property is the last undeveloped property of its size within the city limits of Ketchum. Similar to the Sun Valley Lodge a few miles away, its exterior walls are concrete, poured into rough-sawn forms and then acid-stained to simulate wood. It was sold to Hemingway in 1959 for its asking price of $50,000, and the Hemingways occupied it in November 1959.[1]

On the morning of Sunday, July 2, 1961, Hemingway died in the home of a self-inflicted head wound from a shotgun.[3][4][5][6] After a brief funeral four days later, he was buried at the city cemetery.[7]

The Nature Conservancy acquired ownership in 1986.[1] In May 2017, ownership was transferred to The Community Library in Ketchum, a privately funded public library.[3]

The Ketchum, Idaho, house, and its associated 13.9 acres of land alongside the Big Wood River, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its association with the writer and because it is an exquisite example of mid-century architecture.

The house is incorporated into a larger historical and literary program that explores Hemingway's abiding connections to the remote and rugged region, a place he visited for two decades, and the place where he turned to make his final home after his departure from Cuba.

Artifacts from the Ernest and Mary Hemingway House and Preserve are being preserved by the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History[8] and will be made accessible to the public through periodic displays at the Library and the Wood River Museum of History and Culture, as well as through research requests.

## Stewardship of the Hemingway House

[edit]

Since taking over the management of the house and legacy, the Library undertook a needed series of restoration measures on the exterior and interior in order to protect the 1953 house and its contents. Notable in the infrastructure work done to date are the re-shingling of the roof — from shake back to shingle (with a Class A assembly); the painting of the house exterior trim; partially regrading the original gravel drive; installing a new boiler, and removing several dying trees.

Importantly, the preservation measure of replacing eleven picture windows in the living room, bedrooms, and kitchen with UV-protected double-paned glass will ensure the artifacts within the house against UV light damage. This project was made possible by a grant award from the Idaho Heritage Trust.[9]

## The Hemingway Writer-in-Residence Program

[edit]

The Community Library manages a Writer-in-Residence program to provide an inspirational, contemplative retreat for individuals aligned with the Library’s programs, major initiatives, and community partnerships.[10][11]

## A Writer in New Country: Hemingway in 1939

[edit]

An exhibit at the Wood River Museum of History and Culture[12] in Ketchum, Idaho, examines who Hemingway was when he arrived in 1939: a writer at his peak, a globetrotter drawn to remote places, a rugged outdoor enthusiast, and a man with complicated personal relationships.

## See also

[edit]

* Birthplace of Ernest Hemingway
* Ernest Hemingway House, Key West, Florida
* Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
* Pfeiffer House and Carriage House
* Spear-O-Wigwam Ranch, a Wyoming dude ranch with "Hemingway Cabin" where Hemingway wrote Farewell to Arms
* Windemere, childhood family summer cottage on Walloon Lake, in Michigan, NRHP-listed in 1979
* Hemingway \- film by Ken Burns, 2021

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Donald W. Watts (November 22, 2013). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Ernest and Mary Hemingway House / IHSI #13-94" (PDF). state of Idaho. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017. Includes 22 photos from 2013.
2. ^ "Ernest Hemingway's Idaho house put on National Register". BBC. August 13, 2015.
3. ^ a b c Ridler, Keith (May 23, 2017). "Hemingway house changes hands, still off limits to public". Associated Press. (also available here)
4. ^ "Rugged Ernest Hemingway kills himself with shotgun". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. July 3, 1961. p. 1.
5. ^ "Hemingway's death via shotgun wound mourned by millions". Bend Bulletin. (Oregon). United Press International. July 3, 1961. p. 1.
6. ^ "Authorities rule out inquest in death of famed novelist". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). AP, UPI reports. July 3, 1961. p. 1A.
7. ^ "Hemingway given quiet funeral". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. July 7, 1961. p. 7.
8. ^ "Center for Regional History". Community Library. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
9. ^ Emery Davidson, Jenny (May 23, 2017). "New home, new mission for Hemingway's house in Central Idaho". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved February 7, 2025.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
10. ^ Manny, Bill (March 2, 2021). "Hemingway's history draws celebrated writers to Idaho to explore their craft, his world". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved February 7, 2025.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
11. ^ Staff, Express (April 28, 2023). "Hemingway House writers-in-residence to share their work". Idaho Mountain Express. Retrieved February 7, 2025.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
12. ^ "Wood River Museum". Community Library. Retrieved October 16, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Palin's Travels – Hemingway Adventure
* Idaho Experience: Hemingway House 360 \- Idaho Public Television
* Hemingway House Virtual Tour \- 'Experience Idaho' PBS Documentary, 2021

* v
* t
* e

Ernest Hemingway

Bibliography

Novels|

* The Torrents of Spring (1926)
* The Sun Also Rises (1926)
* A Farewell to Arms (1929)
* To Have and Have Not (1937)
* For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)
* Across the River and into the Trees (1950)
* The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

Nonfiction|

* Death in the Afternoon (1932)
* Green Hills of Africa (1935)

Posthumous|

* A Moveable Feast (1964)
* Islands in the Stream (1970)
* The Dangerous Summer (1985)
* The Garden of Eden (1986)
* True at First Light (1999)
* Under Kilimanjaro (2005)

Short stories|

* "Up In Michigan" (1921)
* "Indian Camp" (1924)
* "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" (1925)
* "The End of Something" (1925)
* "The Three-Day Blow" (1925)
* "The Battler" (1925)
* "A Very Short Story" (1925)
* "Soldier's Home" (1925)
* "The Revolutionist" (1925)
* "Mr. and Mrs. Elliot" (1925)
* "Cat in the Rain" (1925)
* "Out of Season" (1925)
* "Cross Country Snow" (1925)
* "My Old Man" (1925)
* "Big Two-Hearted River" (1925)
* "Banal Story" (1926)
* "Today is Friday" (1926)
* "A Canary for One" (1927)
* "Fifty Grand" (1927)
* "Hills Like White Elephants" (1927)
* "The Killers" (1927)
* "The Undefeated" (1927)
* "Che Ti Dice La Patria?" (1927)
* "In Another Country" (1927)
* "Now I Lay Me" (1927)
* "A Simple Enquiry" (1927)
* "Ten Indians" (1927)
* "An Alpine Idyll" (1927)
* "A Pursuit Race" (1927)
* "On the Quai at Smyrna" (1930)
* "Fathers and Sons" (1932)
* "A Natural History of the Dead" (1932)
* "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" (1933)
* "A Day's Wait" (1933)
* "The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio" (1933)
* "A Way You'll Never Be" (1933)
* "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1936)
* "The Capital of the World" (1936)
* "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" (1936)
* "Old Man at the Bridge" (1938)

Short story
collections|

* Three Stories and Ten Poems (1923)
* In Our Time (1925)
* Men Without Women (1927)
* Winner Take Nothing (1933)
* The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories (1938)
* The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1961)
* The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War (1969)
* The Nick Adams Stories (1972)
* The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (1987)
* Ernest Hemingway: The Collected Stories (1995)

Story fragments|

* "On Writing"

Poetry|

* 88 Poems (1979)
* Complete Poems

Plays|

* Today is Friday (1926)
* The Fifth Column (1938)

Screenplays|

* The Spanish Earth (1937 film)

Letters and
journalism|

* By-Line: Ernest Hemingway (1967)
* Ernest Hemingway: Selected Letters, 1917–1961 (1981)
* Dateline: Toronto (1985)
* The Cambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway (2011)

Adaptations|

| The Sun Also Rises|

* 1957 film
* 1984 film
* Opera
* The Select (The Sun Also Rises)
* Ballet

|

"The Killers"|

* 1946 film
* 1956 film
* 1964 film
* Bukowski short story

A Farewell to Arms|

* 1932 film
* 1957 film
* 1966 TV series

To Have and Have Not|

* 1944 film
* The Breaking Point (1950)
* The Gun Runners (1958)
* Captain Khorshid (1987)

For Whom the Bell Tolls|

* 1943 film
* 1959 TV play
* 1965 TV series
* 1984 song

The Old Man and the Sea|

* 1958 film
* 1990 film
* 1999 animated film

Other film adaptations|

* The Macomber Affair (1947)
* Under My Skin (1950)
* The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
* Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
* Islands in the Stream (1977)
* Soldier's Home (1977)
* My Old Man (1979)
* After the Storm (2001)
* The Garden of Eden (2008)
* Across the River and into the Trees (2022)

Homes|

* Birthplace and boyhood home
* Michigan cottage
* Hemingway-Pfeiffer House
* Key West home
* Hotel Ambos Mundos, Havana home
* Finca Vigía, Cuba home
* Idaho home

Depictions|

* Bacall to Arms (1946 cartoon)
* Hemingway: On the Edge (1987 play)
* In Love and War (1996 film)
* Midnight in Paris (2011 film)
* Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012 film)
* Cooper & Hemingway: The True Gen (2013 documentary)
* Papa: Hemingway in Cuba (2015 film)
* Genius (2016 film)
* Hemingway (2021 documentary series)

Related|

* Nick Adams
* Floridita
* Pilar (boat)
* Iceberg theory
* Ernest Hemingway International Billfishing Tournament
* International Imitation Hemingway Competition
* Maxwell Perkins
* Adriana Ivancich
* Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award
* Premio Hemingway
* Hello Hemingway (1990 film)
* Hemingway: A Portrait (1999 documentary)
* Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure (1999 documentary)
* Hemingway crater
* Kennedy Library Hemingway collection
* Hemingwaya

Family|

* Elizabeth Hadley Richardson (first wife)
* Jack Hemingway (son)
* Pauline Pfeiffer (second wife)
* Patrick Hemingway (son)
* Gloria Hemingway (daughter)
* Martha Gellhorn (third wife)
* Mary Welsh Hemingway (fourth wife)
* Lorian Hemingway (granddaughter)
* Margaux Hemingway (granddaughter)
* John Hemingway (grandson)
* Mariel Hemingway (granddaughter)
* Grace Hall Hemingway (mother)
* Leicester Hemingway (brother)

* v
* t
* e

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Topics|

* Architectural style categories
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Related|

* National Historic Preservation Act
* Historic Preservation Fund

* National Register of Historic Places portal
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