Neptune Pool

As a State Historical Monument, the buildings and their contents are open to the public and you can choose from several different tours round the huge complex. The  beautifully designed Neptune Pool has a great location overlooking the countryside, and it is here that you can best imagine scenes of the Hollywood Stars of the day at play while staying there. Click Tab 2 to see the equally sumptuous Indoor Pool.

Hearst Castle from road back to Visitor Center

When Hearst inherited the ranch from his mother it extended to over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) in size. Although the estate is formally known as 'La Cuesta Encantada' (The Enchanted Hill), Hearst referred to it simply as ‘The Ranch’. However as its buildings became more ornate and were fitted out in an increasingly  sumptuous style, it became known as Hearst Castle. The Hearst Corporation donated the estate to the state of California in 1957 and it is now a State Historical Monument.

Casa Grande

Hearst engaged San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to design new buildings soon after he inherited the ranch. Construction began in 1919 and continued until 1947 when ill health forced Hearst to stop visiting the estate. The buildings that you see now did not take 28 years to build, the lengthy construction period was a result of Hearst continually demolishing older buildings and replacing them with new and grander buildings. Casa Grande is the main house of Hearst Castle and it was designed in the 16th century Spanish-Moorish style modelled on the Cathedral at Seville. Click Tab 2 to see a picture of the dining room.

Casa del Sol Guest House

Hearst entertained the rich, the famous and the politically powerful of the day at his ranch. Vistors included Howard Hughes, Charlie Chaplin, and Winston Churchill. By 1947 three guest houses had been added taking the total number of rooms at the ranch up to 165.

Hearst Castle, San Simeon

Driving along Route 1 near  San Simeon you can see perched on top of the hill what appears to be a small town with an elaborate church at its centre. This is no town, but  the ‘castle’ built by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst between 1919 and 1947 on ranch land inherited from his mother. William Randolph Hearst was born in 1863 to a family that had already amassed a fortune from mining. His father had acquired the San Francisco Examiner in payment of a gambling debt and in 1887 the young Hearst took over the management of the newspaper. He built it up to become the dominant newspaper in San Francisco and then acquired other newspapers across the USA and forged them into a national brand. Hearst died in 1951 and is now perhaps most remembered through Orson Welles' 1941 film Citizen Kane which was  loosely based on his life.

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William Randolph Hearsts's Bedroom, Casa Grande

High up in the towers of Casa Grande is the bedroom of William Randolph Hearst and discretely nearby is the bedroom of his long term partner Marion Davies. She was an actress and in 1918 Hearst formed Cosmopolitan Pictures, signing her to the studio and using his media outlets to promote her career. They never married because Hearst’s wife would not give him a divorce, but his relationship with Davies lasted until his death in 1951 and it was she who supported him through his declining years . Click Tab 2 to see Marion Davies’s bedroom.

© Mike  Elsden 1981 - 2025

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