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What can I say about Hearst Castle? It’s beautiful... it’s
magnificent... it’s overwhelming. It’s a monument to conspicuous
consumption... proof that nothing exceeds like excess.... a
grandiloquent testament to the sheer ostentation of wealth. It’s all
that and more. And it gives a million visitors each year plenty to gawk
at.
The essential background: William Randolph Hearst’s father struck it rich in the California gold rush. Hearst thus enjoyed a privileged upbringing that included extensive travel in Europe. He used his inherited wealth to found and acquire newspapers around the country, and to get elected twice to Congress. His publishing empire controlled 36 newspapers, and expanded to include numerous magazines and a Hollywood movie studio.
This accumulation of riches allowed Hearst to build his own version of the castles he had visited in Europe as a child. But grander and gaudier: What European castle includes a private airport, a wildlife park, and a zoo? To design and build his castle (which he called La Cuesta Encantada, The Enchanted Hill) Hearst chose Julia Morgan. A woman architect was unheard of in 1919, so it’s hard to say whether he hired her because of her architectural gifts or because her unusual status made her crazy enough to take on a job that some architects insisted was impossible.
The result (unfinished when Hearst died in 1951) has an exterior
inspired by a Spanish cathedral. Its 165 rooms include a dining room
copied from a Gothic castle, an adjoining salon larger than all the
combined rooms of a suburban American house, and an even larger cinema.
Inside and out is a cloying clutter of priceless art that Hearst
relentlessly collected from around the world. Hearst’s wife didn’t like
the castle or its remote location. She apparently wasn’t thrilled with
William Randolph either, so she lived in New York. He had to content
himself with the companionship of Marion Davies, a Hollywood starlet 34
years his junior. A continuing parade of invited celebrities and
dignitaries who stayed in three adjacent guest houses also helped Hearst
avoid loneliness.
Today the Hearst Castle and its grounds form the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument, a California State Park. It’s all on a hilltop overlooking the Central Coast town of San Simeon, midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Hearst Corporation deeded the complex to the state in 1957. It surely makes good business sense for them to let the state take care of the maintenance and upkeep of the property while the company collects a share of the revenue.
The castle has two Roman-inspired swimming pools. The outdoor one is the
“Neptune Pool.” There were three versions of this pool, each one bigger
and grander than its predecessor. The final version is 32 meters long
and 28 meters wide, surrounded with statuary and a dressing room in the
form of an ersatz temple.
The indoor pool is modeled after the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. The
walls, floor, and the pool itself are a continuous mosaic made of
special two-centimeter square tiles. Although Hearst and his guests
enjoyed the Neptune Pool, the indoor pool proved unpopular because of
one historical inaccuracy. The Romans heated their baths with
underground furnaces. Hearst’s imitation lacked that feature, which made
its water too cold for comfort.
It isn’t easy to take pictures of the castle. The park is accessible only by guided tour. Besides expertly dispensing commentary and history, the guides keep the assembly line of tour groups running at a brisk and efficient pace. Indoors, to preserve the art, most of the rooms are dimly lit and flash is not allowed. Also forbidden are tripods or any other kind of camera support.
Because of these limitations, I can’t include a picture of what, to me, offers the most interesting insight into Hearst as a person. On a wall in the main residence’s billiard room hangs a medieval mille fleurs (“a thousand flowers”) tapestry. The guides point out that this tapestry was his most prized artistic possession. But in front of the tapestry is a rather ordinary couch, which covers the bottom quarter of this “most prized” treasure! When I asked about this, the guide assured me that the room layout is exactly as it was in Hearst’s time, based on contemporary photographs. Apparently even this, his favorite work of art, was only one more trophy he displayed to impress his guests— and, perhaps, to impress himself.
Through his castle Hearst crafted an image of himself. Half a century
after his death, that image has become a legacy that visitors can
appreciate. In contrast, the CEOs of today’s large American corporations
are completely consumed with daily stock prices, quarterly earnings, and
the relentless churning of paper wealth. That seems inimical to the sort
of vision that creates something as enduring as Hearst’s “dream castle.”
I can only wonder what legacy those CEOs will leave, once they vest in
whatever compensation packages they might merit in the Afterlife.
(Out of respect for the corporate successors of
William Randolph Hearst— and their lawyers— I hereby acknowledge that
“Hearst Castle®,” “La Cuesta Encantada®,” “The Enchanted
Hill®,” and “Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument®” are
registered trademarks of Hearst Castle®/California State Parks.)
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