Hearst Castle, “The Enchanted Hill”
Hearst Castle, “The Enchanted Hill”
Through the many road trips from Los Angeles to San Francisco as a child, I had always been intrigued by the distant view of the Hearst Castle up the hill. I would wonder why is there a castle up on the hill, what is the history behind the castle, how does a real castle looks like, who owns it, and etc. There were countless questions I would ask myself. On our last family road trip to Northern California, my bucket list to visit the Hearst Castle was satisfied. My family and I were given the opportunity to visit the Hearst Castle and joined Grand Rooms Tour.
We went to the Visitor Center to pick up our tickets, we were surprised the castle is not just around the back of the Visitor Center but it requires a 5-miles bus ride up to the hilltop. Luckily, we arrived early for our tour, we got the opportunity to explore the Visitor Center which was almost like a museum itself. We ate a delicious hot lunch at the café (No food and drink can be purchased at the castle), walked around the gift shops, and enjoyed the free gallery of William Randolph Hearst Exhibition. We also watched the 30 minutes movie that was included with the tour of William Randolph Hearst and the castle. It was a nice short movie that provided enough background information before the tour of the castle.
The 15 minutes bus tour along the winding road up the hill was very scenic. The pre-recorded monologue narrated by Alex Trebek, from the TV show Jeopardy, made it more interesting. As we came close to the castle, I was captivated by the beauty and opulence of the estate. I was so excited especially having my kids with me to share my childhood dream to walk on this fascinating legendary estate and to witness the arts and architectural history produced by W.R. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan.
History of Hearst Castle (From Hearst Castle website)
“Hearst Castle’s history begins in 1865, when George Hearst purchased 40,000 acres of ranchland. In 1919, William Randolph Hearst inherited what had grown to more than 250,000 acres, and was dreaming of ways to transform it into a retreat he called La Cuesta Encantada—Spanish for “Enchanted Hill.” By 1947, Hearst and architect Julia Morgan had created Hearst Castle: 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways—all built to house Hearst’s specifications and to showcase his legendary art collection”.
The Grand Rooms Tour
Before the start of the Grand Rooms tour, our guide explained that the tour will be about a 60 minutes long tour with about 2/3 mile walk around the Casa Grande. Cameras are allowed inside but flash is not allowed. After the tour completes, visitors may stay on the hilltop, until remaining daytime tour ends to enjoy the gardens or walk on 24 carat gold at the Roman Pool. All guests must exit the estate like the way we came up the hilltop, everyone must board a bus by the tennis courts to head back to the Visitor Center.
The Grand Rooms tour started at the Neptune Pool. Due to leakage, the Neptune Pool was empty and closed for restoration. It’ll take about a year or so to complete the restoration. The the view of the Neptune Pool is as opulent as the castle. With beautiful ancient Greece and Roman statues and colonnades surrounding the Neptune Pool, Julia Morgan perfectly designed the pool looking like a Roman temple or as to its name “Roman God of the Sea.” I can only image how absolutely beautiful the pool would look when it’s filled.
*See Live video our docent speaking about Casa Grande"
After a few photos of Neptune Pool, we walked through some beautiful gardens and statues to the front entrance of the main house called “Casa Grande.” Casa Grande is a beautiful palatial residence built to look like a church using Mediterranean Revival architecture. W.R. Hearst had a very impressive guest list of Hollywood actors, Political Leaders, and Notable historic figures visiting the castle. Charles Chaplin was a regular guest! From listening to our docent about W.R. Hearst, I found him be a very unique and eccentric individual. W.R. Hearst had a very unique taste in art and that’s why his castle is so exceptionally built. His three basic requirements from his guests were a bit peculiar to me. Number one was a social gathering at the Assembly Room for cocktails before dinner with Mr. Hearst. Number two was his guests must dine together after cocktails at the Refectory Room. And lastly, every night, guests must watch a full-length movie with W.R. Hearst at his private Theater.
We were led to a small side door to enter into Casa Grande, we walked through the Assemble Room, Refectory Room, Billiard Room, and Theater. We got to experienced what it was like to be guests of W.R. Hearst. I think the interior lighting of Casa Grande was too bit dark. It doesn’t exemplify his exquisite collections of fine European and Mediterranean art and antique. Each room was uniquely designed with European artifacts like centuries old tapestries, oriental rugs, silvers, antique furniture, hand-carved ceilings brought from Europe piece by piece, centuries-old wooden seats from Spanish and Italian churches, and ancient fireplaces. It was just phenomenal being so close to all these historic artifacts. I think the most authentic room representing W.R. Hearst was the dining room. The room depicted the informality of the home as his ranch or his magnificent campsite. In the middle of the room, there is a long table where his guests would dine with him sitting facing each other. The table setting displays a 100 years old silver candlesticks with fine China silverwares that W.R. Hearst used as his camping utensils and a bottle of mustard and ketchup bottles. Our tour ended at the Castle's Theater where we sat on the original stools to watch a homemade short film of W.R. Hearst and his guests enjoying opulence estate.
As we walked out to catch the bus back to the Visitor Center, we passed by the indoor Roman Pool. It is the most breathtaking indoor pool I have ever witness! The pool was so meticulous designed to details. The indoor pool consists of millions of blue tiles from ceiling to floor and some contain a layer of gold leaf inside. On the walkway, there are layers of gold leaf tiles, everyone gets to walk on it. It was a surreal experience to be walking on 24 carat gold. =)
The Hearst Castle is truly an amazing historical landmark for California. When you visit the opulence residence, you’ll feel like you have traveled back in time. We learned so much history looking at the design of the architecture, the fine art collections, statues, and the furnishing. There are three more tours (Upstairs Suites Tour, Cottages & Kitchen Tour, and Evening Tour) that we are looking forward to go on. I highly recommend this awe-inspiring family experience to the Hearst Castle.
