The owner of late author Ernest Hemingway's onetime Ketchum residence has decided to pursue a plan to open the site to the public.
The governing board of the Idaho Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the Hailey-based organization that owns the 13-acre Ketchum estate where Hemingway once resided, voted unanimously Friday, Feb. 25, to ask the City of Ketchum to allow limited public access to the property.
Elaine French, chairwoman of the TNC Idaho board of trustees, said the board's decision reflects a desire to act in the interest of the public and to honor the will of Mary Hemingway, the writer's widow who bequeathed the estate to TNC.
"We believe our decision represents the best interests of the community, honors Mary's will, and will preserve the historical and cultural legacy of Ernest Hemingway's home in Ketchum," French said.
French said the 23-member board considered an offer by a group of four neighborhood families to purchase the estate and give the house back to TNC so it could be relocated, but ultimately determined the house and the surrounding land should remain together.
At issue is the future of the final residence of one of the United States' greatest literary figures. After purchasing the property in 1959, Hemingway made the house his part-time residence until July 1961, when he fatally shot himself in its front room.
In 1986, Mary Hemingway bequeathed the property to TNC with instructions that it be maintained as a nature-related reference library and wildlife preserve.
Recently, TNC determined it would not continue to manage the house, largely because doing so would not fit in with its overall mission of protecting natural areas.
Geoff Pampush, TNC Idaho director, said the new plan of action approved by the board essentially calls for conveying management of the house to the nonprofit Idaho Hemingway House Foundation, with TNC retaining a conservation easement over and management of the surrounding land.
The Ketchum-based IHHF intends to restore the house and conduct limited public tours and writing workshops at the site, which is perched above the Big Wood River off East Canyon Run Boulevard.
The TNC plan, however, faces several obstacles.
First, the Ketchum City Council must pass a zoning-code amendment that would allow the city to approve limited public access to buildings of interest in zoning districts outside of the commercial core.
If such an amendment is approved, TNC and the IHHF could then seek a conditional use permit to allow the public to access the Limited Residential-zoned Hemingway estate.
If the permit is granted, TNC nonetheless faces potential litigation by four families who live adjacent to the Hemingway House and strongly oppose public use of the site.
The families have contended that public tours of the site would lead to unacceptable levels of noise and disturbance in the quiet neighborhood. Vehicular access to the Hemingway House is achieved via a private neighborhood road.
Pampush said the neighbors have been "quite clear they would be prepared to challenge" TNC in court if it decided to pursue a plan to convey the house to the IHHF and open it for public use.
Gary Slette, attorney for Jonathan and Rebecca Neeley, Gene and Judy Whitmyre, Don and Joan Anderson, and Jack and Elizabeth Bunce, said the neighbors have not yet decided if they will file a lawsuit.
"We're still considering what our options are in that regard," Slette said.
On Tuesday, Jonathan Neeley said a new eleventh-hour offer to buy the Hemingway estate and allow TNC to move the house to an approved one-acre site on Warm Springs Ranch, west of the Canyon Run neighborhood, was presented to TNC before the Feb. 25 board meeting.
Neeley and Slette said TNC indicated it would consider the offer at the board meeting.
"I really thought we had a plausible solution," Slette said. "I truly was disappointed (about the TNC decision). I know my clients were."
In a press release issued Feb. 25, TNC officials noted that their endeavor to gauge public opinion about what to do with the Hemingway House rendered strong support for a proposal to convey the house to the IHHF, instead of selling the estate to a private buyer.
"Moving forward with the IHHF will allow the undeveloped portion of the property to be protected while sharing the home's historical aspects," Pampush said. "Public opinion is strongly in favor of this option, and the Conservancy believes that suitable conditions can be placed on the (use permit) that would protect the neighbors' interests, as well as allow limited public access to the home."
