Hearst Castle

In 1919, Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst  hired San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to build a hilltop house on what he called his "ranch at San Simeon".  The project lasted from 1919 to 1947.

High above the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Hearst created his private retreat.  The Mediterranean-style country house features guest houses, gardens, pools and terraces.  Once accessible to only celebrities and famous guests.  Today, Hearst Castle is a California State Park, which, for more than 50 years, has shared the Castle's story with millions of visitors.


We were staying at an RV park in Paso Robles, CA, which is approximately 30 miles inland from the coast.   From there we drove the car out to the coast to the Hearst Castle visitor center.  We checked in for our 11:00 am tour and shortly after, we  boarded a large bus that takes you up a steep curvy road for 5 miles to reach the top of the hill.   When you exit the bus, you are met by your tour guide who proceeds to take you up MANY steps to the main Castle entrance .  When the 25 or so people on this particular tour all reached the top behind her, she said "okay, lets all stand here for a minute and pretend we are not out of breath!"  :)  We took the "Grand Rooms Tour" which is recommended for first time visitors.    It provides a broad overview of the many faces of Hearst Castle.  The guided tour lasts 45 minutes and includes the Assembly Room, Refectory, Morning Room, Billiard Room and Theater.  The rest of the tour is self guided.  You are free to walk around the grounds for as long as you like.  Buses run every 5 - 10 minutes, so if you are not ready to go back to reality you can just sit on the terrace or by the pond and enjoy.  They have wicker furniture and umbrellas set up on the terraces and marble benches throughout the gardens for you to sit.  You are told to use only the metal hand rails and not touch any of the concrete rails, ledges or benches.




This is a view of the Castle from down below at the Visitor Center.  It really doesn't look this close in reality.  This picture has been zoomed up in order to see the castle and guest houses.

The buses run almost non-stop back and for from the Castle to the Visitor Center.

 

This picture was taken on the castle terrace looking down toward the visitor center which is located down by the ocean.  When you look at the ocean, you can get the feel for how high up we are.  Look at the road on the right side of the picture below and you can see one of the buses coming up the road.

 

This is where the bus dropped us off. 

 

Our tour guide met us and we started up these steps.  Turns out there are a lot more steps to go!

 

We passed this Pomegranate tree on the way.  We have seen a lot of those here in California.

 

This is a picture of the Castle from the side terrace.

The grand entrance is made from concrete.

Closer view of the detail at the entrance.

 

The detail on the entrance was all hand made by artists.

 



The "Grand Rooms" were dark and we were not allowed to use flash photography, so a lot of the pictures did not turn out very well.  Below are some pictures we took that will give you an idea of the décor.

Our tour guide told stories and gave details about the ceilings, floors, tables, mantles, etc.   Nothing was just purchased and put in place.....it was either hand crafted, or shipped from a far away land.

I'm not certain of the country, but these tables were from an ancient convent in another country.

Beautiful tapestries hung on all of the walls.

Ceilings were all hand crafted as well.

The billiard room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This building is one of the three guest houses on the property.

 

 

 

 

Another guest house.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful tiles, pottery, and statues are throughout the grounds.

 

Another layer of gardens.

 

 

 Side Terrace

 

 

 

 

View from the balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 Below are some of the statues that are placed throughout the gardens and terraces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pond is located in the center of one of the main terraces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from up here is spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rose garden was in full bloom and it smelled wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got a rare view of the marble floor of the Neptune Pool.  It was undergoing renovations.

 

 

 Left side of pool......

 

 

 

 

 

 Right side of pool.

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a picture of the outdoor tennis courts. 

 

 

 

 

Picture below is the Roman Pool which is located underneath the tennis courts.  It is HUGE!!!  and magnificent! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We noticed certain areas were blocked off and there were workers setting up these oversized lamps, as well as sofas and chairs.  Everything was in white.  One of the Park employees explained to us that California's former first lady, Maria Shriver, was having a fundraiser that weekend and they would be having a private party afterwards on the Hearst Castle grounds.  Bruce Hornsby would be performing at the event.  The fundraiser bicycle ride was for a charity called Best Buddies that Maria and her brother Anthony Kennedy started.  The bicycle ride began in Carmel, CA on Highway 1 along the coast and ended 100 miles later at the Hearst Castle.

 

 

This is what first caught our eye.   It was so modern and out of place.

 

We could see the workers busy getting canopies and lights ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 These are some of the many bikers we passed as we were leaving.    Some of the bikers finished the ride in a little over 4 hours.   

 

 

I know this was a very encouraging sign for most!

 

 

 

 

 The zebras below belong to the Hearst Ranch.  They are descendants of the original zebras that were on the ranch when Mr. Hearst had a number of exotic animals.  The white deer we saw at the Ridgewood Ranch RV park in Willits, CA  (where the famous race horse named Seabiscuit  lived) came from the Hearst Ranch.

 

This is still a working ranch, so there other animals as well.  We saw cattle grazing along with the Zebras.

Before we headed back to the RV park, we rode a few miles down the highway to see the Elephant Seals that several people had told us about.  There was one particular viewing area on the beach along Highway 1, a few miles from the Hearst Castle entrance, that had the vast majority of seals.  I guess these creatures are such a big attraction that there was a large parking area for viewing.  When we stopped the lot was almost full. 
The Elephant Seals are much larger than the Harbor Seals or Sea Lions.  Several of them were taking their flippers and throwing dirt up onto their backs.   You can see the seal at the bottom of this picture with dirt on his back.  

 Another great day trip!