| Also
known as: |
The
Enchanted Hill |
| Also
known as: |
Hearst
Castle |
| Built: |
1919-1947 |
| Designed
by: |
Julia
Morgan |
| Type: |
Residential |
This
was the fortress home of communications magnate-turned-recluse
William Randolph Hearst. He built the 165-room castle
on his family's land overlooking the Pacific Ocean
from a height of 1,600 feet. It is furnished with
great works of art, architecture, sculpture, and painting
including an excellent collection of Italian and Spanish
art. The place is so lush that Hearst, himself, stayed
secluded here for the years leading up to his death.
He is the person the film Citizen Kane is based
on. And walking around you can almost sense how isolation
in such grand style could push someone over the edge.
More than a hundred of the San Simeon Ranch's 245,000
acres have been turned into formal gardens with pools,
terraces, and fountains. There is water inside, too,
where the indoor pool is lined with gold and glass
tile. Tired from your walk? Why not sit down in one
of the 14 sitting rooms? Or you could wander over
to the library and browse the 5,000 books. Of course,
little of that is possible because even though 137
acres of the ranch are now a state park, where you
go and what you see is strictly controlled. Still,
from the architecture to the interior decorations,
it's a little bit of European royalty right in California.
- April,
2001 - In a major historical find, the original
drawings of Julia Morgan's Hearst Castle were found
in California. The four pencil drawings are dated
1926 and 1927. They were discovered by a land surveyor
while cleaning out old drawers at the state department
of Parks and Recreation in Sacramento.
- 8
December, 2001
Hearst Castle in California is safe from Navy bombs
for now. A plan has been dropped that would increase
practice bombing on a range between Big Sur and
Hearst Castle on the California coast. The area
was formerly owned by William Randolph Hearst, but
he sold it to the Army in 1940 and it has been used
for decades as a bombing range. Until now only about
300 missions were flown each year. The new plan
would increase that to 3,000 missions so planes
wouldn’t have to fly so far to practice. But it
was determined that the new plan wouldn’t save much
fuel, and ran into protests from environmentalists
and the National Park Service worried about the
endangered California condor, the Salinan Nation
indian tribe, and a group of monks trying to maintain
silence at New Camaldoli Hermitage.
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