View Of Hearst Castle While Driving Up To It.
The other day we took a tour of Hearst Castle. Or should I say we took one of five different tours you could take. It was interesting. Hearst Castle is actually part of the California State Park System. It was donated to California to preserve it’s heritage. Plus, no one else wanted it, including the late Mr. Hearst’s wife, as it was very expensive to maintain. Plus they had several other houses.
William Randolph Hearst inherited the land from his father in 1919. It started out as 40,000 acres of ranch land. It grew into over 250,000 acres.
The castle is spectacular, however every which way you turn you are looking over breathe taking vistas. The views, in my opinion, make the place more spectacular.
The main house, in my opinion, looked like a cathedral. I’m guessing this was deliberate as Mr. Hearst enjoyed the Roman and Italian cultures. It had two bell towers, many statues and an iron gate. All the carving that you see is all hand done.
The Main Door To The Main House
A View From Hearst Castle
He had an outdoor pool and an indoor pool. The outdoor pool, known as the Neptune Pool was surrounded by Roman statues that Mr. Hearst picked out himself. The indoor pool was a Roman Pool that was completely covered, floor to ceiling in 1 inch square mosaic tiles and again surrounded by Italian and Greek statues.
A Close Up Look Of The Main Door To The Main House
The Outdoor Pool
The Indoor Pool That’s Below The Tennis Courts
The Main Dining Room
One Of The Many Fireplaces
One Of The Wood Carved Ceilings
The main house is full of extremes. In the main dining room their are flags hanging over head. No reason, just because he liked them. Mr. Hearst was also a collector. He has a big collection of fireplaces that were placed throughout all the properties on the property. They were all functioning fireplaces, so they did serve a purpose. All the ceilings throughout all the houses on the property had hand carved ceilings. Even in the bedrooms. Each one more extravagant than the other. Each square is probably about the size of an 8 x 10 rug, if not larger.
An Original Home Theater! Just Up David’s Alley.
Mr. Hearst was one of a few people back then to have electricity in that area. So he had the most elaborate lighting one could think of. He was on the cutting edge of having his own theater. David enjoyed this part of the tour. Sorry for the dark picture, as flash photography was not allowed.
The Sconces In The Theater Were Actually Statues That Held The Lights.
David On The Grounds At Hearst Castle
Their is so much more to Hearst Castle that I can not sum up here. Just visit the Hearst Castle link and read all about it. They explain it much better than I can.
