VanNice Travels: Hearst Castle

"LA CUESTA ENCANTADA"

or "THE ENCHANTED HILL"

The over mile-long pergola once covered with espailiered fruit trees and grapes is a riding trail meant to shade horseback riders. It runs adjacent to Hearst Castle and overlooks 50 miles of pristine coastline.

CASA GRANDE

Casa Grande's design follows the general Mediterranean Revival Style; it contains 115 rooms including 38 bedrooms, a library, movie theater, kitchen, and living quarters for the household staff. Scott and I had been on the "Casa Grande tour" about 20 years ago so this time we took the "Cottages and Kitchen tour".

Notice the twin bell towers; the design for the bell towers came from a cathedral in Rhonda, Spain and overall the structure has a church-like appearance. It's made of poured concrete reinforced with steel and is approximately 68,500 square feet.

Close-up of cherub...

Detail over wine cellar window; all gold seen throughout the castle is REAL gold or gold-leaf.

Esplanade tile

WINE CELLAR

The wine cellar is in the basement on the north side of the building in hopes of keeping the wine between 45 and 60 degrees but as it turned out it was too warm so the wine displayed here is no longer any good. Hearst had a locked iron door installed during prohibition.

Oldest known wine in the world.

COTTAGES

Each cottage is named for its view, which Hearst considered a great feature of the hilltop. The cottages were the first buildings constructed and were used to house guests and family. Hearst's family occupied Casa del Mar until 1928 when they moved into Casa Grande. All three cottages contain bedrooms, bathrooms, and sitting rooms. None of them have kitchens or dining areas; guests were required to go to the main house for meals.

CASA DEL MONTE (House of the Mountains)

Everywhere you look in this house you will find angels; here they are under the eaves.

Floor tiles

Guest bedroom...

with gold-leaf ceiling; notice the angels, shells, and sea horses!

Guest bathroom with showers across the hall.

The guest cottages are filled with priceless antiques. Carved headboard and tapestry - one guest asked if it was okay to actually sleep in the bed.

Gold-leaf ceilings and more angels!

View of the mountains from the sitting room.

Gold-leaf molding around bedroom door.

Another angel...

Cathedral icons above fireplace.

White camellia

CASA DEL MAR (House of the Sea)

Intricately carved eaves and outdoor lamp.

Door knocker

Carved lion sitting on bannister leading to the downstairs.

Sitting room with view of the sea.

The curators did this in several rooms; I liked how it felt as if a Hearst guest would be returning to the bedroom for her shoes if we would only continue with our tour!

Frieze - part of the mantel in one of the bedrooms.

16th Century Flemish painting by Adrian Isenbrandt. Look at the angel's wings in this painting; they're like rainbows!

Mr. Hearst's bedroom has a nautical theme.

Mermaids are carved over the windows in his bedroom.

SEKHMET

These statues of the Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet are among the oldest pieces of art at the castle. The upper seated figure and the small bust on the right are more than 3,000 years old. The other two pieces are undated.

"The Three Graces"

View of the sea from Casa del Mar.

CASA GRANDE KITCHEN

Window above the sink.

Two identical sinks across the kitchen from each other.

Love, love, love the faucet handles!

What everyone needs is their own beer tap in the kitchen! 😄 Might have to fill it with rootbeer!

Oven and prep area; the cook is making cookies today!

This old mixer looks a lot like the one used in Cove School's kitchen!

Warming ovens and bread box.

William Randolf Hearst had phones everywhere in the castle including this one in the kitchen and one outside in the garden hidden behind a tree!

Refrigerator

Room where the staff dined.

NORTH UNFINISHED TERRACE

The back of the castle sits unfinished; plans for a Grand Entrance were underway by the late 1920s but never completed.

I like how the cutouts reflect in the glass of this balcony.

Pink camellia, Hearst liked the fragrance of these beautiful flowers and planted them on either side of the back entrance.

TENNIS COURTS and INDOOR ROMAN POOL

The tennis court sits atop the indoor swimming pool. The blocks or glass skylights seen here provide more natural light to the pool below.

The Roman Pool is still used by the Hearst family today.

The floor around the pool is beautiful - gold flecks were sandwiched between 1 inch glass tiles and then the tiles became part of the floor, walls, and pool!