Writer-in-Residence Studio Honors Papa in the 21st Century
Tim Campbell of Tim Campbell Studios, and Joe Marx and Tim Carter of Idaho Mountain Builders [IMB] spent several months remodeling the garage of Ernest Hemingway’s final home into an exquisite, contemporary writer-in-residence studio, which is managed by The Community Library in Ketchum. The main two floors of the house have been preserved according to the 1959-61 period of time when Hemingway resided there.
“Decades ago, the House’s original three-bay garage had been converted into an apartment, and then it had stood un-used for more than five years,” says The Community Library Executive Director Jenny Emery Davidson. “As we transformed this space into a new studio apartment for a working writer, we wanted to harken back to its past as a garage while also creating a comfortable, flexible space for ongoing creative work, in the spirit of both Ernest and Mary Hemingway. We wanted it to complement the mid-century design of the rest of the House, and also resonate with the natural setting.”
The garage and storage space under the home was converted into an office many years ago, which IMB deconstructed and then updated into a contemporary living space. “It took some time, but we brought back the original garage space, which was then remodeled into a beautiful, modern studio,” says Marx.
“IMB worked with The Community Library to conduct infrastructure improvements and renovation work in the spirit of an archaeological dig, asking a lot of questions and documenting historical markers all along the way.”
–Jenny Emery Davidson,The Community Library, Executive Director
“IMB worked with The Community Library to conduct infrastructure improvements and renovation work in the spirit of an archaeological dig, asking a lot of questions and documenting historical markers all along the way,” says Emery Davidson. “It is important to note that the House is a private residence that we want to respect as a refuge for visiting writers.”
