Castle on a Hill

We had to watch Citizen Kane before we left for this trip because it is loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst and Xanadu, the palatial mega-mansion of the film, is inspired by Hearst Castle, which is just outside of San Simeon and right off Highway 1.

This is the view from the visitor’s center, which is along the highway.  Hearst’s parents had owned the land before him and they used to go camping up there on the hill.  As the newspaper magnate got older he decided he wanted to build something “a little more comfortable.” 

                    
Hearst had traveled extensively in Europe and not only is his castle inspired by various European architectural elements, but he actually purchased and brought home with him whole ceilings, fireplaces, temple facades, along with tapestries, statuary, artwork and the like.

     
The courtyard fountain in front of the main entrance and its view looking down the hill toward the ocean.

Leaving the bright sunshine behind, it takes your eyes a second to adjust . . .

   
to the interior.  This is one of 19 sitting rooms; there are also 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor pools and, at one time, the world’s largest private zoo.  That’s where those zebras came from that you saw in the last post.  (Most of the animals got shipped off to other zoos but the zebras had adapted nicely to the area and were allowed to stay.)

                      
The dining room, like most rooms, strikes you first as overwhelmingly grand, but upon closer inspection you might notice odd little modern conveniences thrown into the mix, for example there are bottles of ketchup on the dining table.  In another room I noticed a Monopoly game and, tucked into a corner, I found a 1940’s-era radio parked right next to an Italian Renaissance-esque statue.

                      
Bits and pieces in the dining room: silver candlesticks and a ceremonial mace.  Sorry, no pictures of the ketchup bottles.

 
After dinner, we move into the billiard and game room.

And then we conclude with a short film in the 50-seat movie theater.  The man was, incidentally, also a movie producer.

        
Moving back outside, we are free to browse the gardens and admire the exterior of the three guest houses, the largest of which has a mere 8 bedrooms of its own.

    
It’s hard to say which is more impressive: the artwork or the views.


Then we drop down into the Neptune pool.  Now if you’re going to have a ridiculously large and ornate mansion/palace, THIS is the way you want your pool to look.

Tourist shot!

     
A little more time to stroll through the gardens?  Sure!

View from the back terrace of one of the guest houses.

                         
Guest house details.  Speaking of guests, this was the place to be during its heyday; the guest list included the likes of Charlie Chaplin, the Marx brothers, Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Charles Lindbergh, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Joan Crawford, Bob Hope, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

                          
                        
Just a few more things found wandering around the garden.

We say goodbye to the main house and head back along the designated route to meet up with the bus which will take us back down the mountain.
  But first, that “designated route” has one more bit of magnificence in store for us: the Roman pool.

                         
I wouldn’t want to own it but I can’t deny it’d be pretty spectacular to go for a swim here.  Maybe next time! ;)