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Hemingway estate in disrepair
Preservationist groups
trying to restore legendary writer's Finca
Vigia outside Havana.
The Associated Press. Posted
on Mon, May. 30, 2005 in The
Times Leader.
HAVANA - Tropical fruit trees and trim
gardens greet visitors to Ernest Hemingway's
sprawling estate on the outskirts of Havana,
but the wooden home where he lived for more
than 20 years is falling apart - hit by
erosion, tropical humidity and botched repairs.
American preservationists riding to the
rescue have run up against the politics
dividing the U.S. and Cuban governments.
The Bush administration has taken a tough
stance on the communist-run island, tightening
long-standing trade and travel restrictions.
The result: The preservationists were denied
a license to travel to Cuba last year.
But the Hemingway Preservation Foundation
in Concord, Mass., joined forces with the
Washington-based National Trust for Historic
Preservation to reapply for the license,
this time successfully. They plan to send
a team of architects and engineers in June
to study the plight of the estate called
Finca Vigia, or Lookout Farm.
Americans in Havana for an international
forum on the late novelist last week were
surprised to find the house covered in scaffolding,
and much of the moisture-damaged furniture
removed to make room for restoration work.
"This is really in a more fragile
state than I had guessed," said Paul
Hendrickson, a University of Pennsylvania
professor, peering through the windows of
Hemingway's study where a leopard skin lay
stretched across a couch but several other
items were under plastic tarps.
Lookout Farm is where Hemingway - "Papa"
to his friends - lived from 1939 to 1960,
some of his happiest years, and wrote "The
Old Man and the Sea." Since his suicide
in 1961, the hacienda has served as a rare
cultural bridge for Cubans and Americans.
The Hemingway Preservation Foundation is
urgently trying to raise $150,000 for the
study, said its director, Mary-Jo Adams.
The rehabilitation will cost millions of
dollars, and the license does not allow
the importation of the necessary materials,
she said.
With the Americans' arrival delayed, the
Cubans launched their own projects. Renovation
of the living room, bathroom and writing
room began in December, with pieces of furniture
and personal items removed to prevent further
water damage. Roof repairs to stop leaks
are also under way.
Gladys Rodriguez, a museologist and a leading
Cuban expert on Hemingway, said she was
determined not to let politics slow things
down.
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