Labor Day vacation. We’re calling it our “Castles, Missions, and Aquariums Tour.” We started at Hearst Castle, then went up the 1 to the Monterey Bay area.
Sunrise over the 57 freeway.
I’m not sure what’s going on here. Apparently someone is building Hearst Castle–South.
Scenery on the drive up.
Buzzing past the small town of Harmony, population 18.
Getting further north and west.
Hearst Castle in San Simeon.
The entrance to the visitor’s center.
Inside the visitor’s center.
Mr. Hearst had his own firetruck.
Traveling up the road to the castle. I swear this used to be a gondola ride over a lake. Now it’s a bus ride up a winding road.
A bus goes past a heard of some sort of sheep or goat or deer descended from Mr. Hearst’s serious attempt at a wild animal park.
The view from the castle.
The gardens in the foreground, with the main house in the background.
One of the two towers of the main house.
The front door.
Art fills the castle. When Mr. Hearst was a child, he toured Europe with his mother. Then, decades later, he builds a “little something” that literally incorporates things he saw in his travels. He imported whole ceilings, ramparts, and doorways from other countries. The castle (and grounds) function as a museum because it has so much art and artifacts.
The main hall. Guests would have had cocktails here while waiting for Mr. Hearst to appear to show them to dinner.
The dinning hall. Mr. Hearst had a casual set-up with ketchup, mustard, and cheap flatware and glasses. He wanted it to be less fancy.
The castle is made of concrete, to protect it from earthquakes.
The billiards room. Mr. Hearst apparently expected his guests to be active. No sleeping-in or breakfast in bed. Get up and do something. If you had never ridden a horse in your life and Mr. Hearst wanted to go riding, you’d have to be a quick study. If he said he wanted to see a play in an hour and then led you to a room full of costumes, you would have to participate.
After dinner, guests would move to the theater to watch a film starring Hearst’s mistress, Marion Davies. His affair was scandalous, but not a secret. Davies played hostess to his guests at the ranch. Hearst’s wife had her own mansion in Long Island.
The grounds at the castle. These are light posts, with giant white globes on their heads.
The Neptune Pool.
The current Hearst Castle staff get to swim in this pool from time to time. Visitors can bid for the privilege.
Casa del Sol, one of the three houses on the site in addition to the main house.
The doorway to Casa del Sol.
A detail of the fence in front of Casa del Sol.
The Casa del Sol fountain.
Tile stairs. Hearst seemed to pay close attention to detail.
The tennis courts.
The Roman Pool. This is, I think, my favorite part. Hearst never finished the castle, or its surrounding distractions. This pool sits just below the tennis courts, in what was supposed to be the gymnasium. But, because the pool was the only part completed, the whole complex did not get much use.