Help us protect the home of one of America’s greatest writers.
When Ernest Hemingway wrote, “The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water”, he understood that what is most powerful and meaningful often lies beneath the surface. The same is true of preservation.
Preservation, like an iceberg, is mostly invisible. Your support is what keeps it afloat. You are the force beneath the surface that makes our work possible.
This past year, thanks to your generosity, we supported the conservation of vulnerable documents, monitored temperature and humidity in aging rooms, provided materials for the continued maintenance of the Restoration Center, conducted assessments of windows damaged by storms and termites, and our team of U.S. architects and engineers began the painstaking restoration of damaged windows—one frame, one pane, one window at a time.
Finca Vigía is a cultural treasure. Every object, every wall, every page in the archive holds stories that would be lost forever without our Foundation’s care. Your support ensures those stories continue to inspire, teach, and connect us.
Every gift makes a difference. Your support matters.
Thank you!
Finca Vigía Foundation Receives Grant from the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation
The Finca Vigía Foundation is pleased to announce the award of a $25,000 grant from the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation to support ongoing preservation work at Finca Vigía, Ernest Hemingway’s home in San Francisco de Paula, Cuba.
The grant will specifically support a Preservation Assessment Survey and be an educational training opportunity in historic preservation. This assessment will provide a prioritized, sustainable roadmap for the long-term stewardship of the historic house and its collections.
As part of this initiative, the Foundation is pleased to announce that Norma Jessica Cardenas-Flores has been selected as the Finca Vigía Foundation’s 2026 Graduate Fellow. Norma is from Texas and is pursuing a Master of Science in Architecture at the University of Texas at San Antonio, along with certificates in High-Performance Design and Sustainability and Historic Preservation.
Norma will work under the guidance of internationally respected preservation professionals, architect William Dupont and conservator Luisa Casella, assisting with research, documentation, and conservation planning related to Hemingway’s home and its collections.
The Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation is nationally recognized for its commitment to advancing education in historic preservation, historic trades, curatorship, and architectural history. Through its support of internships and graduate assistantships, the Foundation helps prepare the next generation of leaders dedicated to safeguarding historic places and collections.
OUR MISSION
From the Executive Director
Foundation News
Hemingway’s Finca Vigía: Preserving American Cultural Heritage
From an essay by Dr. Sandra Spanier
Finca Vigía is the fitting home of the treasure trove of papers and books, some still in need of being restored, preserved, and scanned. But the importance of Finca Vigía extends far beyond serving as the natural repository for the Hemingway papers and books. The house itself tells the story of Hemingway’s life and work. Not only did he write IN the house, he even wrote ON its very walls: to this day, one can read on the bathroom walls Hemingway’s penciled daily records of his weight, along with some pithy notations about what he ate or drank.