Inside Finca Vigía, Ernest Hemingway’s Home in Cuba

By Cody Keenan, Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting

Ernest Hemingway is one of my favorite writers.

That’s not a particularly original thing to say — it’s just the truth. He first hooked me, so to speak, when a high school English teacher assigned The Old Man and the Sea. In college, over a semester in Spain, I devoured The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, and For Whom the Bell Tolls back-to-back-to-back-to-back. His works took me on voyages, and exposed me to new ideas and ways of thinking, and like many young men, I was intoxicated by his own adventurous image.

So when I heard that the First Lady would visit Finca Vigía, his home in Cuba, I meekly asked if I could tag along. True to form, she generously said yes. (Thanks, Mrs. Obama!)

I was thrilled to discover that the house has been beautifully restored, and it’s more or less as you’d imagine it. His hunting trophies line the walls, photos and mementos of his escapades are scattered everywhere, and books — thousands and thousands of books — occupy every room. Our tour guide said it’s where he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls, and it’s a beautiful place to write, filled with sunlight and cooled by cross-breeze.

As a writer, I was particularly interested to see his desk, and it didn’t disappoint.

His typewriter is certainly more romantic than my work-assigned laptop with Microsoft Word — and without a backspace key, I’d imagine it forces a writer to think and choose his or her words a lot more carefully before putting them to paper. I’ll try it sometime — though when it comes to remarks like the State of the Union Address, I’m glad I have a laptop.

His boat, the Pilar, has been restored and sits out back. He didn’t just use it for fishing — it’s said he actually patrolled the waters off Cuba hunting for Nazi submarines.

The visit was a rare and special treat for which I’m very grateful. It also inspired me to go out and buy some more used books when we get back to the States!