In the past I’ve told you that my sister Gail and I take a trip together, just the two of us, every five or six years. Well, we decided to include our younger brother Mark and go last year to visit her in Oakland, California at the end of June. We had meant to take him on a trip three years ago when he turned 60 but schedules did not work out. Mark lives in Irvington too and has delivered our newspapers. This is Day 6 of a 8 day trip.
We really enjoyed Asilomar the day before – what a cool retreat.
We headed south for our visit to Hearst Castle, the main focus of this architectural vacation. Hearst Castle in located in San Simeon along the coast of California and is a National Historic Landmark.
A little background History of Hearst Castle: Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst inherited 250,000 acres from his family in 1919. It had been the family camp he enjoyed as a kid. He commissioned famous architect Julia Morgan to “build a little something up on the hill.” Julia was the first woman to study architecture at the School of Beaux-Arts in Paris, the first to have her own architectural practice in California, and the first female winner of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. She worked closely with Hearst for over twenty years to build this most renowned creation. Hearst had purchased ceilings from churches and monasteries in Europe and these were incorporated throughout the Castle, which makes it the most eclectic creative place you’ll ever see, in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
After checking into our motel just down the road from the Hearst Castle we headed down to see if we could catch a tour. We signed up for 2 that day. The “Grand Rooms Tour” which every first time visitor needs to go on and the “Cottages & Kitchen Tour” ($25 each tour – lasting an hour each). The Castle is a 15 minute bus ride up the hill (5 miles) from the visitor center at the bottom. We had our own tour guide which gave us (and probably 30 people on the first tour) all the details of every room as we walked through the main building called Casa Grande, the Assembly Room, Refectory, Morning Room, Billiard Room and Theater. Also we got to see the Neptune outside pool which was under renovation and the Roman Pool which was a magnificent inside pool with gold leaf on the tiles. In the dining room, which looked like a medieval castle with the hanging flags, had bottles of catsup and mustard on the table. Hearst referred to this place as his “Ranch” so it had a more casual atmosphere surrounded by breathtaking art. The rooms were huge with the most elaborate ceilings and so much to look at – it’s overwhelming. There was also a movie theater with all the trappings you can imagine for the time period, where Hearst screened his own movie studio movies for his guests.
We were guided through 2 of the 3 guest houses which were just as impressive. I remember a tour guide saying “Winston Churchill and Clark Gable slept in this bed – but not at the same time.” Hearst had famous guests visiting all the time and many, many formal dinners and parties.
The second tour took us to the kitchen which any caterer would envy with all it’s space and ovens. The wine cellar was massive with all the world’s best wines.
We got to see architect Julia Morgan’s work space which was a tiny wooden shed out back – if you can believe that after seeing this mansion.
Next time: Day 7 our adventure at Hearst Castle — more tours.
