In 1979, my family and I toured the California coast, pulling our small travel trailer from San Francisco to San Diego. We stopped at San Simeon and wanted to tour the Hearst Castle, but all the tours for that day were full. With no campground nearby, we drove on without taking a tour. Now, more than forty years later, I have filled that void in my experience.
William Randolph Hearst inherited a fortune from his father, who became rich prospecting for gold and finding silver. That wealth was increased through various investments, including land, ranches and mining developments. A major newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, was acquired in payment of a gambling debt. Willie expanded the family enterprise and eventually owned some thirty newspapers, several magazines and movie production companies. He used all his power and wealth to influence elections and run for office himself. His story is long and sordid, but I'll stick to the Hearst Castle part of it.
Owning 250,000 acres of land along the coast, which Hearst called "the ranch" due to his cattle operation, he engaged architect Julia Morgan to build a modest home so he wouldn't have to camp out when visiting. Expecting it to take a few months, his changes and expansions kept the project going for nearly thirty year, and it was never really finished. Together they designed a magnificent Mediterranean Revival mansion and filled it with more than 25,000 artifacts and antiques, some more than 3000 years old. Using reinforced concrete, they created a palace that will withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
Here is a long distance view of the Castle from San Simeon, the little village down at sea level.
The Visitor Center handles ticket sales, gift and souvenir shops, a grill and a restaurant, a museum and a theater that shows the movie "Building The Dream". You can barely see the estate without the telescopes provided.
From the Visitor Center, a tour bus navigates a long and winding road to the top and unloads at the lowest level of the immediate grounds. Our guide leads us up several levels, past all sorts of art works, to a view of one of three "cottages" that were built first. The family lived in one while the main house, Casa Grande, was under construction. We also stopped to view the Neptune pool, built and expanded several times, finally about 100 feet long.
To reach the level of the main house requires a half-mile walk and climbing 175 steps, with art work all along the way. I was unable to fit Casa Grande within a frame because it is so large and we were close by the time we saw it. A California scrub jay posed for me while our tour guide droned on about the greatness of it all.
At one spot, our guide pointed to a mountain peak we could barely see. He explained that the mountain is 40 miles away and marks the northern boundary of the ranch. The land was purchased for an average of 70 cents per acre, and is now valued at $250,000 per acre. (Don't bother with the math, it's $62.5 Billion.)
Here is the front door of Casa Grande. We went through a side door. And we were constantly reminded to stay on the walking mat, no flash photography, no gum and don't touch anything.
The interior is ornate to say the least. Most of us would not be comfortable living here. (Maybe in his Beverly Hills home now valued at $195,000,000.) We only went into four rooms, other tours go to other rooms (five tours in all). There are 115 rooms in Casa Grande, including 38 bedrooms. I have no idea why so many bedrooms, since guests typically stayed in the cottages.
This is where Hearst entertained dignitaries and Hollywood celebrities. You'll notice the tour guide didn't stay on the walking mat.
We left via a walkway that overlooks the two tennis courts, then toured the indoor pool before taking the bus back down the mountain. We were welcome to tour the grounds, and I would have enjoyed seeing the formal gardens. However, I'd had a full and tiring day, and my girls were overdue for dinner.
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