An American Castle in California
Hearst Castle in San Simeon, on the western coast of California, was a place to which celebrities-of-the-moment were invited by William Randolph Hearst, who amassed his fortune as a publishing tycoon. With this fortune he created in the early twentieth century what is today one of the largest historic house museums in the United States.
The mansion is a 28-year collaboration between Hearst and Julia Morgan, not his wife or mistress, but his architect. She previously had designed structures for Hearst’s mother, Pheobe, and in 1919 Hearst hired Morgan to lay plans for something on his land that would be more comfortable than the platform tents guests stayed in at the time.
So with the ideas of Hearst, Ms. Morgan devised four houses to comprise the 90,080 square foot castle: Casa Grande, Casa del Mar, Casa del Monte and Casa del Sol. Collectively, these structures have 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms and 41 fireplaces.
But Ms. Morgan’s architectural skills weren’t limited to luxury residential structures; she also designed the pools and the gardens as well as the workers’ camp and the animal shelters.
Hearst Castle had a zoo with free-roaming animals from antelopes to yaks. Caged animals included cougars, chimps, macaws, among others and even an elephant. In 1937 financial difficulties started for Hearst, and he donated most caged animals to area zoos since he could no longer afford construction of their shelters, maintenance of their special diets and salary of the full-time, on premises vet. Many of the free-roaming animals remained though, and even today you might see zebras grazing along coastal Highway 1 near San Simeon.
Tours of this State Historical Monument began in 1958, a year after the property was donated to California. A visit to http://www.hearstcastle.com/ lets you see a touch of what you can expect. Five tours are offered, but the Experience Tour is recommended for first-timers.
For $14 each, Mark and I purchased tickets for the 105 minute castle tour plus a 40-minute National Geographic movie concerning construction of the grounds, complete with vintage clips from the 1920s and 30s.
The tour began with a short bus ride up the hill while period music played. Once we all unloaded into the garden area, our guide listed some rules, like indoor flash photography is prohibited as is walking off of the carpet indoors.
I don’t remember other rules because I wasn’t fully listening. I was taking in the view of lower San Simeon and the Pacific coastline.
From our tour group’s vantage point we saw a postage-stamp-sized pool down below. Our guide told us that it was the water treatment system for Hearst Castle designed by his architect, Julia Morgan, who earned her degree in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley. The small town of San Simeon uses it still today.
After winding our way through the esplanade and gardens with year-round blooming flora, we passed the gorgeous outdoor pool with near surroundings of marble sculpture and far surroundings of mountains and coast.
The first structure we entered was Casa del Sol where we saw a relatively modest guestroom and bath letting out into a sitting room. I use the terms “relatively modest” when comparing it to rooms in the Casa Grande through which we also strolled; Morgan designed Casa Grande around so many extraordinary Spanish, Flemish, Roman and other European antiques, artworks and collectibles. Hearst amassed a vast and impressive collection that included classical paintings, tapestries, religious textiles, oriental rugs, antiquities, sculptures, silver, furniture and antique ceilings.
Before our bus trip down the hill, we passed the indoor pool housed in its own structure. The only thing making it less spectacular than the outdoor pool was lack of a view.
If traveling to western California to a locale north of Los Angeles and south of San Francisco, don’t miss out on this tour of a lifetime. If you do, like Katharine Hepburn, you’ll regret it.
Ms. Hepburn wasn’t aware of the luxurious amenities and wasn’t interested in camping. She declined an invitation to the castle from Hearst himself. She was never asked back.
To see more pictures of Hearst Castle, please visit http://www.ournationstreasure.blogspot.com/.
Word Count ~700
The mansion is a 28-year collaboration between Hearst and Julia Morgan, not his wife or mistress, but his architect. She previously had designed structures for Hearst’s mother, Pheobe, and in 1919 Hearst hired Morgan to lay plans for something on his land that would be more comfortable than the platform tents guests stayed in at the time.
So with the ideas of Hearst, Ms. Morgan devised four houses to comprise the 90,080 square foot castle: Casa Grande, Casa del Mar, Casa del Monte and Casa del Sol. Collectively, these structures have 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms and 41 fireplaces.
But Ms. Morgan’s architectural skills weren’t limited to luxury residential structures; she also designed the pools and the gardens as well as the workers’ camp and the animal shelters.
Hearst Castle had a zoo with free-roaming animals from antelopes to yaks. Caged animals included cougars, chimps, macaws, among others and even an elephant. In 1937 financial difficulties started for Hearst, and he donated most caged animals to area zoos since he could no longer afford construction of their shelters, maintenance of their special diets and salary of the full-time, on premises vet. Many of the free-roaming animals remained though, and even today you might see zebras grazing along coastal Highway 1 near San Simeon.
Tours of this State Historical Monument began in 1958, a year after the property was donated to California. A visit to http://www.hearstcastle.com/ lets you see a touch of what you can expect. Five tours are offered, but the Experience Tour is recommended for first-timers.
For $14 each, Mark and I purchased tickets for the 105 minute castle tour plus a 40-minute National Geographic movie concerning construction of the grounds, complete with vintage clips from the 1920s and 30s.
The tour began with a short bus ride up the hill while period music played. Once we all unloaded into the garden area, our guide listed some rules, like indoor flash photography is prohibited as is walking off of the carpet indoors.
I don’t remember other rules because I wasn’t fully listening. I was taking in the view of lower San Simeon and the Pacific coastline.
From our tour group’s vantage point we saw a postage-stamp-sized pool down below. Our guide told us that it was the water treatment system for Hearst Castle designed by his architect, Julia Morgan, who earned her degree in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley. The small town of San Simeon uses it still today.
After winding our way through the esplanade and gardens with year-round blooming flora, we passed the gorgeous outdoor pool with near surroundings of marble sculpture and far surroundings of mountains and coast.
The first structure we entered was Casa del Sol where we saw a relatively modest guestroom and bath letting out into a sitting room. I use the terms “relatively modest” when comparing it to rooms in the Casa Grande through which we also strolled; Morgan designed Casa Grande around so many extraordinary Spanish, Flemish, Roman and other European antiques, artworks and collectibles. Hearst amassed a vast and impressive collection that included classical paintings, tapestries, religious textiles, oriental rugs, antiquities, sculptures, silver, furniture and antique ceilings.
Before our bus trip down the hill, we passed the indoor pool housed in its own structure. The only thing making it less spectacular than the outdoor pool was lack of a view.
If traveling to western California to a locale north of Los Angeles and south of San Francisco, don’t miss out on this tour of a lifetime. If you do, like Katharine Hepburn, you’ll regret it.
Ms. Hepburn wasn’t aware of the luxurious amenities and wasn’t interested in camping. She declined an invitation to the castle from Hearst himself. She was never asked back.
To see more pictures of Hearst Castle, please visit http://www.ournationstreasure.blogspot.com/.
Word Count ~700
posted by Elizabeth Evans Fryer | 3:03 PM
2 Comments:
I really enyjoy these posting!
Thanks, Sophia. It'll be another two weeks before a new one goes up. Remember to check back then.
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