The Son of Adventure Part 6 by T.R. Willey

During my family’s 2002 visit to Cuba we had the pleasure of being able to tour the home of writer Ernest Hemingway. Known as Finca Vigia (Spanish for "Lookout Farm,") the property is located in the suburb of San Francisco de Paula. The house was built in 1886 on a hill overlooking Havana by the architect Miguel Pascula y Baguer. Hemingway purchased the the 10 acre property in 1939 and owned it until 1961, just before his death. It was at Finca Vigía that he wrote most of The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls. To tour the home freely is a rare opportunity that few Americans are afforded.

It was a Sunday, and our second day on the island. That morning we had visited a church that my grandparents and father had a key role in founding, and my father had given the morning sermon. Afterwards we had lunch at the home of the young pastor of the church.