High, high on a rocky hilltop perch, William Randolph Hearst's dream home presides over the spectacular landscape and coastline at San Simeon at the south end of the Big Sur on State Highway 1.
A magnificent Castle in the sky, fondly called by Hearst as "The Enchanted Hill" (La Cuesta Encantada) or The Ranch.
If you do the Big Sur road trip you must stop and enjoy Hearst's dream in the sky!
We spent a wonderful afternoon at the Castle - more like an incredible museum! and thoroughly enjoyed the Grand Rooms Tour (there are other on offer - a good excuse to return another time! ), followed by the interesting and informative film, "Hearst Castle Building the Dream", which follows the life of Hearst, the inspiration behind his dream project and the building of his dream. Inspirational and fascinating!
Hearst hired San Francisco architect, Julia Morgan, to build his hilltop house on what he called his "ranch at San Simeon". As a young boy he fell in love with this area, and when his family visited their cattle ranch they camped in a tent on the spot where his Castle is built.
Hearst and Morgan's collaboration on the project lasted from 1919 to 1947 - 28 years!
Morgan designed this Mediterranean Revival Estate and filled it with art and antiques from Hearst's vast collection.
For the past 50 years Hearst Castle has been a Californian State Park to be enjoyed by all. The art and architecture are incredible. Can't even imagine how they transported everything up there!!
Let's enjoy - join us and explore this enchanting Castle and its grounds..............
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The coastline shrinks as we ascend "The Enchanted Hill"
The meandering road that tacks to the top is still the same road used by Hearst. |
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| We are greeted by these amazing spires / bell towers as we arrive at the Castle |
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| The stunning county side surrounding the Castle is the perfect setting |
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Casa Grande!!!
Mediterranean Revival Style.
The bell towers came from a cathedral in Rhonda in Spain and the overall structure has a church-like appearance.
It is made of poured concrete reinforced with steel and is about 68,500 square feet (6300 sq metres).
It contains 115 rooms including 38 bedrooms, a library, movie theatre, kitchen, and living quarters for the household staff. |
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| What an entrance! |
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The Assembly Room
In this room guests gathered prior to entering the dining room for dinner - meeting each other, chatting and admiring and discussing the art and antiquities housed at "the Castle", Hearst's "Ranch" |
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| The Refectory |
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| Hearst always loved his tomato sauce (ketchup), mustard and paper serviettes on the table - after all, in his heart and mind it was always "The Ranch" |
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| The Billiard Room |
The magnificent outdoors........................
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| There are three beautiful cottages in the grounds of the castle. Each cottage is named for its view - Casa del Mar (House of the Sea); Casa del Sol (House of the Sun); Casa del Monte (House of the Mountains). The cottages were the first buildings constructed and were used to house guests and family. Hearst's family occupied Casa del Mar until 1928 at which time he moved into Casa Grande (the castle). |
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Wow!
The Neptune Pool.
Named for the Roman God of the Sea. A 17th century Italian statue of Neptune is incorporated into the temple facade, the focal point of the pool. The pool was constructed between 1924 - 1936 and its the last of 3 different pools that existed on this site. The final version is 104 feet (32 metres) long and ranges in depth from 3-10 feet (1-3 metres).
Some 1st-4th centuries (C.E) Roman columns have been used around the pool. |
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| Imagining being a guest! |
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| Enjoying the view! |
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| Is Pete about to make a speech? |
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| Casa del Mar |
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Sekhmet.
These representations of the Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet are amongst the oldest pieces of art at the Castle.
The upper seated figure and the small bust on the right are are than 3,000 years old. The other two pieces are undated. |
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Hearst wrote that the tennis courts were "the most used of the amusement features of the Ranch".
These sit atop the indoor swimming pool and form a portion of the Recreation Building. |
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| The indoor Roman Pool design consists of more than a million Murano glass tiles, some of which contain a layer of gold leaf inside. The main basin of the pool is 81 feet (25metres) long and 10 feet (3 metres) deep. |
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| Hearst had a zoo on the Ranch - Zebra's still roam the hills of The Ranch. They like the company of the cattle but not the horses! |
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| "The Pergola" spans 6,200 feet adjacent and to the west of the majestic Hearst Castle, overlooking approximately 50 miles of pristine California Coastline. The purpose of the Pergola was to allow visitors of William Randolph Hearst to ride horses under the shaded arbor of the Pergola, which was covered in grapes, citrus trees, persimmons, olive trees and an abundance of flowers. Guests enjoyed the views and the fruits of the Pergola until W.R.’s death in 1951. |
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| Leaving the The Ranch/ The Castle on The Enchanted Hill |
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| High on a rocky outcrop magic happened.......... |
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| Incredible what dreaming can achieve! |
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| The ranch still operates as a cattle ranch |
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| View from the coast far below |
Put Hearst Castle on your Bucket List!
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