Ernest Hemingway Birth Home

This historic house with wraparound porch and a turret was the birthplace and early childhood home of Ernest Hemingway. It was built by his maternal grandparents and today has been fully-restored as a house museum. The interior is awash in rich Victorian decor recreated meticulously from photographs taken by Ernest’s father, Dr. Clarence Hemingway. The passions of the family are on full display—from the taxidermied wildlife specimens collected by his father to the musical instruments used by his mother Grace to give lessons. The house was among the first in Oak Park to have electricity, and since it was not yet particularly reliable, the light fixtures also included gas lamps.

Wesley A. Arnold, 1890