The Castle

Saturday, Dec 31…

Captain Greg

It’s the weekend, so we whisk down a short stretch of freeway and back onto Hwy 1, cruising along the coastal edge (cliff in many places) of the Santa Lucia Range. Lots of twists and turns, and that guard rail doesn’t offer much protection for a 12’ MH. But the views on both sides are gorgeous, and we’re on track for a noon tour of the Hearst “ranch” (now a CA State Park – the cash cow of the entire state park system).

As our bus heads up the road to the castle, Alex Trebek’s voice narrates the history of the property. William Randolph Hearst inherited the property (250,000 acres, including 14 miles of coastline) in 1919, but most of the land had been purchased by his father in 1865. As a child, Hearst loved family camping trips there. (It was tent camping, but more like “glamping,” even in those days.) He roamed the property and was very interested in the natural elements. That interest was evidenced much later when he established a private zoo, including zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers and bears (oh my!). The dangerous animals were safely caged, but others – like the zebras – roamed freely, and some of their descendants can still be seen on the hills. 

Hearst & Julia Morgan

A few words about the rooms. Design and construction of the Castle was overseen by Julia Morgan, one of the first female architects (and a very successful one - she completed many other projects during the 30 or so years she worked with Hearst). Construction began in the 1920s, when fully plumbed bathrooms were a luxury. Hearst wanted the best for his guests - Casa Grande (68,500sf - the largest bldg in the complex) includes 38 bedrooms and 37 full bathrooms. Several of the other rooms are as big as a small house. There are 2 libraries, housing a total of 4100 volumes. A team of volunteers assures that each book is dusted twice a year. The Castle is amazing and well worth visiting - especially for the backstories, which the docents tell very well. 

Lemons on the veranda... Hearst
owns everything to the horizon.

a portion of one of Hearst's 2 libraries

Indoor Roman pool - stunning!

BlogThoughts…  Before this trip, I’d only been to CA twice – family camping in the redwoods in the early 90s, and a weekend visit to San Diego a couple years ago. Even though I’ve seen coastal range on the map, I’ve always kinda carried that CA=beach idea in my head. No more! The expansive views are just amazing. Miles of miles of crops one day, followed by an endless vista of peaks and valleys the next. And of course there’s also the ocean, which also goes out pretty far. Photos just can’t do justice to that much area.

And just a couple final thoughts about Hearst. Regarding his request that the entire estate be given “to the people” after his death, I am impressed with his desire to provide ordinary folks with access to art and artifacts (including entire ceilings!) from around the world – treasures that we would probably never see on our own. And he created a place where his friends and their friends could stay as long as they liked with every possible amenity at their fingertips. At the same time, he operated on a very strict schedule. Guests were free to do whatever they wished all day, but were required to appear at the Castle at 8pm for cocktails (actually, one cocktail – Hearst didn’t approve of heaving drinking). Dinner followed at 9 (and your wine glass could be refilled once). Hearst seated his guests so that different types of folks were intermingled and could get to know each other better. The last event each evening was a movie, beginning at 11pm, in the private theater. After the guests retired, Hearst returned to his office suite to work until dawn. He arose again at 10am, after about 4 hours sleep. Finally, while Hearst lived openly with his mistress, unmarried couples who visited had to sleep in separate quarters. (There were several bedrooms for single ladies in the Castle, and another building for bachelors.)

After a minor navigational glitch (Garmi says south, map clearly shows north – map wins… eventually), we arrive at Santa Margarita Campground, just north of St. Luis Obispo. It’s been a long day, so we pass on a friendly invite to bring in the new year with other campers “up at the yurt.”  2016 has been an eventful year: Greg’s retirement, Kauai, a new grandson, my 70^th, a son at Harborview for 11 months, a new son-in-law, and the first week of our grand adventure. Cheers!

Last Sunset of 2016