Wednesday — January 28, 2004

Neighbors oppose tours at Hemingway’s house

Ketchum P&Z delays action on use plan

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Ketchum Planning and Zoning commissioners this week delayed taking action on a proposal to conduct public tours at the onetime residence of writer Ernest Hemingway, after numerous neighbors of the property vociferously opposed the plan.

During a lengthy public hearing Monday, Jan. 26, representatives of the Idaho Hemingway House Foundation presented an application for a conditional use permit to use the approximately 16-acre Hemingway House property as a nature preserve and venue for public tours and writing workshops.

The Idaho Hemingway House Foundation is a nonprofit group charged with overseeing Hemingway’s former Ketchum residence, a log home located at 400 Canyon Run Blvd.

Hemingway bought the property in 1959 and made Idaho his permanent residence until his death in 1961.

Mary Hemingway, the widow of Hemingway, in 1986 bequeathed the house and surrounding land to The Nature Conservancy, with a stipulation that the site be maintained as a "wildlife preserve."

However, TNC officials later developed concerns that their organization, which focuses on the preservation of pristine landscapes and ecosystems, was not well suited to manage the historic site.

Last year, the Idaho Hemingway House Foundation formed and developed a "memorandum of understanding" with TNC to lease and manage the house and surrounding property.

Wilson McElhinny, a director of the foundation, this week presented a plan to maintain the property as a nature preserve, while also:

• Conducting public tours up to three times per day, six days per week. The tours would be limited to 15 people per outing, all of whom would be transported to the site by van.
  
   
• Developing in the house a library of work relating to Hemingway’s life.
  
   
• Conducting writing workshops on the site and possibly allowing a student writer to live on the property.
  
   
• Using the property up to three times per day for educational and environmental outings for schoolchildren.
  
   
• Restoring the house to its 1961 condition, as it was when Hemingway committed suicide. The estimated cost of the restoration is $500,000 to $600,000.

City planning staff estimated that the number of trips to the site—which is located off a private road stemming from a quiet, residential neighborhood—would likely not exceed 13 per day, according to the plan.

Planning Director Harold Moniz said the city received 13 letters opposing the plan, including seven letters from residents in the Canyon Run neighborhood.

Jonathan Neeley, a neighbor of the Hemingway property, said the plan to conduct tours at the site would disrupt the quiet residential area and might violate the intentions of Hemingway’s widow.

"This is not a Hemingway issue," he said, noting that he owns the private road accessing the area. "This is a land-rights issue."

The P&Z will continue its review of the application on March 8.

 

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