I was excited! This was another place along the map I was eager to see. For those who have been reading my blog faithfully, you will know I am a big old movie fan. So a visit to the famous Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California was a chance to experience a place where legendary Hollywood actors/actresses played and stayed.
(photo courtesy of Internet)
Hearst's wealth was unimaginable by early 20th century standards and he had strong influences in all aspects of society during the early 1900's. Hearst inherited some land from his mother upon her death and in 1919 he hired architect Julia Morgan to build a hilltop house on what he called his "ranch at San Simeon". This collaboration lasted from 1919 to 1947. The end result is this Mediterranean Revival estate sitting on 240,000 acres (97,000 hectares) in the Santa Lucia mountain range. The castle had 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sittings rooms, 127 acres of garden, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a movie theater, a private airstrip and the world's largest private zoo. It even had its own private power plant which supplied electricity to this remote location. In 1951, Hearst died at the age of 88 and his heirs gave the estate to the California State Park system in 1954. In 1958 public tours were started.
During the construction of the estate, entire rooms were moved from great houses of Europe and ceilings from churches and monasteries were brought to Hearst Castle. The grounds and castle were filled with priceless art and antiquities Hearst personally chose. Hearst was said to have a certain fondness for marble sarcophaguses, which are displayed throughout the gardens and grounds. The cost to build this dream home was upwards of $500 million in today's US dollars, and it's still not entirely finished.
This home was one of several that Hearst bought in California during his lifetime. He also purchased the Welsh Vale of Glamorgan property known as St. Donats Castle in 1925 as a love gift to Marion Davies, his mistress. Hearst Castle was used in the filming of the 1960 movie "Spartacus" starring movie greats Kirk Douglas, Lawrence Olivier and Jean Simmons. It was used as the estate of the character Marcus Crassus played by Olivier. The castle (and Hearst) were also fictionalized in a place called Xanadu in the Orson Welles 1941 movie classic "Citizen Kane". Hearst Castle became a playground for the rich and famous in all social circles, including Hollywood, in the 1920 and 1930's. The old saying "if these walls could talk"...I found myself thinking that over and over again on this tour. The parties, the stories and the scandals that took place in this home must have been extraordinary. The guest list included Hollywood film legends such as Charlie Chaplin, the Fairbanks, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Norma Schearer, Carol Lombard, producer Mervyn LeRoy, producer Irving Thalberg, Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, the Marx Brothers, Gloria Swanson...the list is too long. Everyone who was anyone stayed at the Hearst Castle. Hearst's guests were free to roam the grounds and do whatever they pleased during the day but were required to attend dinner each night with Hearst and Davies. Elaborate costume parties were held at the castle with themes and costumes chosen by Hearst. Armies of tailors and seamstresses were placed on the Hearst payroll to create the costumes. The most famous was the circus themed party given to celebrate Hearst's 75th birthday.
Oh, and if you read my previous blog post California - (Part 4) Paso Robles, you would remember that I saw zebra along the roadside in San Simeon grazing alongside cattle. Well, Hearst collected an extensive menagerie of animals during his time at the castle. He called it the Hearst Garden of Comparative Zoology. Grizzly bears, lions, tigers, zebra, leopards, jaguars, monkeys and elephants graced the grounds of Hearst Castle in cages to replicate a zoo for guests and Hearst himself. After his death, the Hearst estate donated most of the animals to various zoos. The zebras, along with some elk and mountain goats, were allowed to remain and roamed free on the mountainside. Today, descendants of the zebra and mountain goats could still be seen on the Hearst property.
Now that you know a little history behind the Hearst Castle, here is a picture show of this brilliant, extravagant, awe inspiring home. We paid $25.00 per person for tickets and chose the "Accessibly Designed Grand Rooms Tour", but there are several other options available. Our tour began with boarding a bus at the Visitor Center.
The bus ride took us up the mountain along the winding, 5 mile long driveway and in approximately 15 minutes we reached the entrance to the castle.
This was one of the three cottages on property, each named for its view. These were one of the first buildings constructed and were used to house guests and family while the castle was being built.
The famous Neptune Pool was being serviced and therefore drained, unfortunately. This was one of three pools but the most popular for its opulence and design. Roman columns from the 1st-4th century and an Italian statue of Neptune, the Roman God of the Sea, were incorporated into the facade as focal points. The water was heated by oil-burning heaters and filtered using sand, which were remarkably advanced at the time this was built.
The gardens were lush and beautiful.
Once inside the castle, narrow stairways led to various bedrooms and places of retreat for guests.
As you will see, the rooms were so ornate and so intricate. Even the ceilings were gilded and hand painted. Every attention to detail was noted.
The views from some of the rooms were pretty remarkable too.
Part of Hearst's various collections were his books, approximately 4,000 of them, and many were first editions and/or signed by the authors.
A private plane flew in every day onto the airstrip located on Hearst Castle grounds and brought Hearst copies of all his newspapers, which were displayed in the main library.
Remember that we were seeing early 20th century construction. To have hot and cold water on tap, flushing toilets and electricity...well, these were a rarity and strictly found in only the most opulent homes, like this one.
This loft style bedroom with a downstairs bathroom was once the favorite guest room of old Hollywood screen goddess Jean Harlow. The steps leading to the loft were made of carved wood.
The last part of the tour was the tennis courts that sat atop a Roman swimming pool, all part of what was known as the Recreation Building. Glass skylights were installed in 1935 on the courts to help bring in more natural light to the indoor pool below. The Roman pool consisted of more than one million Murano glass tiles, some of which contain a layer of gold leaf inside of them.
After our tour of Hearst Castle, we drove approximately 47 miles south then east from San Simeon to the Tobin James Cellars in Paso Robles for some wine tasting. This cellar was a rarity in that the tastings were free and unlimited. Many wineries charge for tastings so this was an exception. We really enjoyed the experience and we walked away with some bottles of wine for later consumption.
We drove to downtown Paso Robles and saw the site where the famous old hotel El Paso Del Robles once stood. In May, 1889 construction began on this three-story resort which included a nine hole golf course and a 7 acre garden. The most famous feature of this spectacular hotel was its 20x40 plunge pool hot spring bath considered one of the finest and most complete in the nation at that time. Notables such as American Boxer Jack Dempsey, President Theodore Roosevelt and legendary Hollywood actors Douglas Fairbanks, Bob Hope, Boris Karloff and Clark Gable all stayed at the El Paso Del Robles hotel. Major League baseball teams Pittsburg Pirates and Chicago Whitesox also stayed at the hotel and soaked in the mineral hot springs to soothe tired muscles. In December, 1940 a fire completely destroyed the El Paso Del Robles hotel. However, in February, 1942 a new Paso Robles Inn was opened which was designed to cater to motor vehicle travelers.
Follow along to our next stop in California...California - (Part 6) Chowchilla
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