This was William Randolph Hearst’s fantasy, and it became his full-time home in the latter part of his life. He ran his many newspapers from this spot-- each one was flown in daily. It was also here that he and his girlfriend (his wife remained in New York) entertained many famous guests: Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, Amelia Earhardt, Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes, Bill Tilden, Jimmy Stewart, and many Hollywood and other important figures. Cary Grant was the most frequent visitor to the castle; David Niven apparently provides a famous account of a visit in one of his biographies. Visitors were often brought in by special rail car or Hearst’s private plane, and stayed in one of three guest villas or the tens of guest rooms in the main house.
Hearst was an animal lover. In addition to all sorts of livestock, he kept polar bears, zebras, kangaroos, as well as a ton of other animals. There are still cattle and zebra on the grounds. I saw plenty of the former, and had a hamburger made from one of them at lunch.
In the castle back in the day, Hearst’s fondness for dachshunds was evident: bunches of them had free run of the place. In fact, any guest who wished to adopt a dachshund was sent to the estate kennel and allowed to take one home.
The visitor center for the castle, which is now owned by the California State Park Service, is some 5 miles away. Tourists are bussed up to the grounds. I took the indoor and outdoor overview tour; there’s another that focuses on the upstairs of the main house, which I’ll take next time.
These are some pictures I took during the very good guided tour:
View of Castle from Visitor Center. Can you even see the castle?
Upon arrival at the Castle, view back down toward the coastline.
One of the guesthouses.
The back of the guesthouse. The cupola was for children to sleep in; a small spiral staircase went up to it.
The famous outdoor pool. Sand filtered, so no chlorine.
Oldest piece of art on the estate.
Main house.
Dining room.
Sitting room.
Tennis courts, built above indoor pool, where Wimbledon winner Big Bill Tilden played.
Indoor pool, which Cary Grant famously said was a great place to get to know someone “just a little bit better.”
This is a view down the castle driveway.After watching a disappointing IMAX film about Hearst the construction of San Simeon (definitely worth a skip), I headed south to Sylmar, just north of Los Angeles. The scenery along the road was not as spectacular as it had been north of San Simeon. Santa Barbara seemed very attractive from the freeway.
As before, here’s a sequence to give a bit of a flavor of the drive:
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