hemingway-pfeiffer museum and educational center

The Hemingway-Pfieffer Education Museum is a great place to learn about how the Pfieffer family helped the small community of Piggott through hard times of the early 1900's. It is also where people can make a connection with Ernest Hemingway in his barn studio where he wrote a portion of A Farewell to Arms. The HPEM also holds writing retreats for budding authors. The Matilda Pfeiffer Museum is also on the site and houses a wonderful collection of mineral and rock specimens. If you are traveling near Piggott, it is well worth the stop!

This is an outstanding museum/house which was meticulously restored with mostly original furnishings. The studio built for Hemingway above the barn/garage is particularly interesting. Tips: Call while planning your trip and make sure they are open at your time of arrival. Also inquire about the family home which is open to the public on adjacent property. It is some kind of study center, but was closed when we were at the Hemmingway-Pfeiffer Home. The adjacent home, built by a family member, looks intriguing. It is probably best to run through a quick bio of Hemingway to put the home and time in perspective. Hemingway may have been a good writer but the more you read, the less likable he becomes. His wife whose family lived here, Pauline Pfeiffer seems much the more likable and interesting of the pair. The home has been lovingly restored and some interesting astories come from the tour. Highly recommended. Piggott is not easily accessed - it's on the way from nowhere to nowhere! It is worth the commitment and you might combine it with the Johnny Cash home restoration and the Tenant Farmer Museum, all in the NE Arkansas corridor. (I went with a group and am not certain whether there is normally a fee for entry.)

I recently spent a weekend with my mom in Piggott, AR attending a Lost Generation reading retreat put on by the HPMEC. Aside from an issue with mosquitoes and chiggers (spray insect repellent), the visit was amazing in every way! The grounds and the house are immaculate, the staff knowledgeable and friendly, and the programs they offer are exciting and informative. They offer an outdoor elevator up to the Barn Studio and in the house as well so that anyone with mobility issues can enjoy the attractions as well. I can't wait to visit again; I even joined as a museum member upon my return home!

A great time was had for my Hemingway On Stage performance at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott Arkansas. The hospitality was superb, the museum was exceptional and the audience was incredibly receptive. I'll be back for sure.

Loved all the history about the author and the family. The house is gorgeous,and loved seeing Papa's writing studio. The staff was very very friendly,and helpful. This is a place you shouldn't miss.

On the National Register, this is where Hemingway wrote many short stories and portions of his famous novel "A Farewell to Arms" while staying with his wife's family. The Pfeiffer family did more than anyone to support the Hemingway lifestyle so well known today. They were the normal family life he had never known before. Stay at The Inn in Piggott and visit this Museum and Home, and see the burn marks and hear that story on the barn out back, converted for Hemingway as a working studio. You will enjoy this weekend getaway if you just want some charm, history, literature, and sample small town Arkansas at its best. Also, a must for any Hemingway scholar or fan. Very professional staff, great bookstore too!

If you're interested in Arkansas history and/or Ernest Hemingway, do not miss this tour. My wife and I have been saying we would visit this house for a few years now, but just now got around to going - and we will be back. Our tour guide, Louise, was informative and delightful. You don't have to be a Hemingway aficionado to enjoy the Pfeiffer house, but if you are you are in for a treat. We enjoyed the leisurely pace of the tour, we were the only ones during our tour, and the guide took pains to make sure we had a great visit. Highly recommend!

We've been to the Hemingway sites in Oak Park and Key West and have enjoyed them. Imagine our pleasure to discover that the less-well-known Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott, Arkansas is every bit their equal. This was the family home of Ernest Hemingway's second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer. The home has been restored in painstaking detail and contains much of the original furniture. The tour was leisurely and the guide was as knowledgeable as she was hospitable. Most who go to the house will probably be drawn there by the Hemingway connection, and rightfully so, for it was an important location in both his personal and his professional life. It was here, in the barn that was converted to an elegant hideaway by his wealthy in-laws, that he wrote much of "A Farewell to Arms." However, the Pfeiffer family have an interesting story of their own, even without the link to Hemingway. Their good works in Piggott during the Great Depression are certainly something you'll want to ask the tour guide about. Once your tour is over, be sure to check out the gift shop, where there is a good selection of books by and about Hemingway. We had a fine visit to the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and expect to return someday for a second tour. Highly recommended.

This museum is an unexpected surprise in a small town. It addresses the lives of the Pfeiffer family and their connection to Ernest Hemingway. The Pfeiffers moved to Piggott in the early 1900's from St. Louis and were very wealthy as is reflected in the quality of the house and their belongings. Mr. Pfeiffer acquired large tracts of farmland in the area and established a cotton business. As you will discover from the information provided in the guided tour, he greatly aided the development of the area and used his philanthropy to support the area and local farmers. His daughter,Pauline, later met and wed Ernest Hemingway and they spent periods of time at the house with their children. The house displays examples of the furnishings of the time and information about the Hemingway family. Also on the grounds is a carriage house which was converted to a writing studio for Hemingway when he visited, which is set up as it might have been in his time there and contains some of his personal belongings. A fact I found interesting is that Charles Lindbergh's children visited after the famous kidnapping but were only allowed to play on a small balcony on the second floor for fear that they might be kidnapped again. The local guides are a wealth of information and make the tour very enjoyable. A gift shop is also on the grounds with Hemingway books, t-shirts, etc. This small museum is a must see in this small town.

I was blown away by the great storyteller tour guide here. He told me he'd see me next time I visit, as he was sure I'd return, and I think he's probably right. My father and I visited this place in September (yeah, I'm a procrastinator) while we were in the area for his class reunion. I thought it would be fun to see what it was like, but wow, the tour guide is a tremendous source of local history. And he's great at telling the Pfeiffer family stories, which do include tales about Ernest Hemingway. If you like history, you will enjoy this attraction.

This is another great site that is too easily overlooked. Most visitors are drawn to the house museum because of the connection to Hemingway. His studio is beautifully preserved and well interpreted, and it's interesting to compare this studio to his other writing studio in Key West. But, on other visits, I became more interested, and appreciative, of the Pfeiffer family. There's a fascinating history, here, that is well worth experiencing. Visitors can learn about turn-of-the-century land development and farming, and that connection to wider patterns of industry and entrepreneurship in America. Prior to visiting this site, I recommend reading Laymon's book "Pfieffer Country" and Hawkins' book "Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow." You'll gain a better context for the Pfeiffer family's time in Arkansas and the ill-fated 2nd marriage of Hemingway. Also, if you go on a Saturday, definitely tour Matilida Pfieffer's house -- it's right up the road and it really "rocks." Check out the movie "A Face in the Crowd" before you go. When you're there, you'll see why.

This museum and education center is well-organized, professionally run, friendly, and an inspiration to Hemingway fans--especially the barn-studio. The writers retreats are an opportunity for writers to form a small, close-knit community and to take their writing to a higher level, enabled by the mentor and Adam Long, the museum's director, and his staff.

My family was on a USA road trip holiday, driving from New Orleans to Washingon looking for some out of the way places to visit. Who would have thought there would be such a well presented and maintained, educational and thoroughly delightful place to visit in a lovely, friendly little town called Piggott, Arkansas.