Hearst Castle

• 1. Origins And Early History

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  The coastal range of Southern California has been occupied since prehistoric times by the Salinans and the Chumash. In 1797, Mission San Miguel Arcángel opened in what is now San Luis Obispo county to convert the Native American population. By the 1840s, the mission had declined and priests departed after Mexican governors distributed the lands as grants. Three specific grants included Rancho Piedra Blanca, Rancho Santa Rosa, and Rancho San Simeon. The Mexican, American War of 1846, 1848 saw the area pass into United States control under the terms of the Mexican Cession. A thirty-year-old George Hearst arrived during the subsequent gold rush decade. He bought the Piedra Blanca property in 1865 and extended his holdings with most of the Santa Rosa estate. George Hearst built a ranch house on the estate in the 1870s which remains private property today. Camp Hill became a favored spot for family camping expeditions including his young son William. Years later William recalled climbing up the slope hanging onto the tail of a pony while living in a cabin. His father developed the estate by introducing beef and dairy cattle and planting extensive fruit orchards. George also bred racehorses and expanded wharf facilities at San Simeon Bay.

• 2. Architectural Collaboration

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  William Randolph Hearst entered Julia Morgan's office in 1919 shortly after his mother Phoebe died. Morgan was forty-seven years old when she began working with the fifty-six-year-old publisher. Her biographer Mark A. Wilson described her career as that of America's first independent full-time woman architect. She had been the first woman to win entry to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1898. Passing out from the school in 1902, Morgan returned to San Francisco to establish her own office. Hearst commissioned work at his Los Angeles Examiner Building and the future castle site. Their partnership lasted from 1919 until his final departure in 1947. The correspondence between them runs to some 3,700 letters and telegrams preserved in the Robert E. Kennedy Library. Victoria Kastner, the castle custodian, called it a rare true collaboration. Walter Steilberg observed them discussing design changes while oblivious to guests at dinner. Thomas Aidala noted they would pass drawings back and forth seemingly ignoring everyone else. Morgan designed Casa Grande starting in April 1919 based on Hearst's desire for something more comfortable than camping tents. He originally wanted a bungalow but ideas expanded rapidly within a month. Discussion on style moved from Jappo-Swisso themes to Spanish Colonial Revival. Hearst admired Renaissance examples in southern Spain and asked Morgan to model towers after a church in Ronda.

• 3. Social Life And Guests

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  Hearst and his family occupied Casa Grande for the first time at Christmas 1925. From 1926 until 1947, his mistress Marion Davies acted as chatelaine of the castle. Hollywood stars including Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, and the Marx Brothers visited frequently. Political luminaries such as Calvin Coolidge and Winston Churchill also attended gatherings. Cecil Beaton wrote of his New Year's Eve 1931 visit seeing tons of white marble under theatrical brilliance. Weekend guests arrived by private train or flew into Hearst's airstrip generally late Friday evening. Alcohol was rationed with one cocktail allowed before dinner due to concerns over Davies's alcoholism. David Niven later reflected on supplying illicit liquor to Davies while feeling he had outwitted a powerful man. Dinner served at 9:00 PM came from a 7,000-bottle wine cellar featuring pheasant and wild duck. Movies followed dinners initially outside then inside a theater where films often featured Davies. Ilka Chase recorded an early 1930s showing where plaster was still wet so guests piled fur coats at the door. In February 1938 a plane crash killed Lord and Lady Plunket traveling to the castle. Patricia Van Cleeve married at the castle in 1937 marking the grandest social occasion since President Coolidge visited in 1930.

• 4. Citizen Kane Controversy

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  Hearst Castle inspired Xanadu in Orson Welles's 1941 film Citizen Kane. Welles arrived in Hollywood in 1939 to make a film version of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness for RKO Pictures. That project failed so he collaborated with screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz on a screenplay originally titled American. The film tells stories of Charles Foster Kane inhabiting a Florida castle filled with enough loot for ten museums. Filming began June 1940 and premiered the 1st of June 1941. John Houseman stated clearly that Mankiewicz used Hearst as the model for Kane's public life. Friends gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons attended early screenings before release. Hearst made strenuous efforts to stop the premiere when told of its content. When these failed, he sought to damage circulation by forbidding all mention in his media outlets. His assault damaged the film at the box office and harmed Welles' subsequent career. Since 1952 through 2012, Sight and Sound Critics Poll voted Citizen Kane greatest film every decade. On the 9th of March 2012, the film screened in the movie theater at Hearst Castle for the first time during the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

• 5. Construction Challenges

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  Morgan left her San Francisco office Friday afternoons taking an eight-hour train journey to San Luis Obispo followed by fifty miles driving to San Simeon. The estate lacked water initially relying on three natural springs from Pine Mountain. Morgan devised gravity-based delivery systems transporting water from mountain springs to reservoirs including Rocky Butte. Water provided electricity via a private hydroelectric plant until San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation began service in 1924. Strong winds from the Pacific Ocean and severe winter storms presented climate challenges. Morgan experimented finding suitable stone quarried from the mountain top foundation platform. Combining this with desalinated sand produced concrete of exceptionally high quality. Material transported by train truck or sea into a wharf built below the site. A light railway constructed from wharf to castle allowed efficient movement of goods. Brick and tile works developed on site using companies like Grueby Faience and Batchelder. Albert Solon and Frank Schemmel undertook tiling work creating blue-and-gold Venetian glass mosaics. Between 1920 and 1939, between 25 and 150 workmen employed at the castle during construction phases. Costs remained difficult to track due to informal withdrawal methods used by Hearst's corporation.

• 6. Art Collections And Architecture

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  Hearst intended making the castle a museum of best things he could secure calling himself Great Accumulator. Over thirty ceilings doorcases fireplaces mantels entire monasteries paneling and medieval tithe barn purchased shipped to Brooklyn warehouses then California. His assemblage of ancient Greek vases formed one of world's largest collections totaling over 400 pieces at peak. The oldest works are Egyptian goddess Sekhmet figures dating 1550 to 1189 BC standing on South Esplanade. Nine Roman sarcophagi collected include one dated 230 AD previously held at Palazzo Barberini acquired in 1910. Tapestries included Scipio set after Giulio Romano in assembly room plus millefleur hunting scene woven Flanders 15th century. Paintings featured Tintoretto Winterhalter Gérôme and Duccio di Buoninsegna Madonna from early 14th century. Gardens designed with curving paved walkway called Esplanade connecting main house to guest cottages. Neptune pool reconstructed three times before Hearst satisfied holding 345,000 gallons water equipped seventeen shower changing rooms. Roman pool constructed under tennis courts completed 1935 using Murano glass tiles gold-leaf designed Solon manufactured San Francisco.

• 7. Legacy And Modern Tourism

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  Hearst died in Los Angeles in 1951 abruptly severing him from Davies who excluded from funeral by family. Morgan closed her office 1950 after forty-two year career dying virtual recluse early 1957. In 1958 Hearst Corporation donated castle gardens contents to state of California opened public June 1958. Castle added National Register Historic Places the 22nd of June 1972 became United States National Historic Landmark the 11th of May 1976. Attraction attracts over 850,000 visitors annually as major California tourist destination. Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film Spartacus used castle standing Crassus villa while Lady Gaga filmed G.U.Y music video 2014 at Neptune and Roman Pools. the 12th of February 1976 Casa del Sol guesthouse damaged bomb placed allies Symbionese Liberation Army retaliation for Patty Hearst trial testimony. the 22nd of December 2003 earthquake magnitude 6.5 epicenter three miles north caused limited structural damage testament quality construction. Many projects repairs completed during March 2020 closure due to COVID-19 pandemic before reopening the 11th of May 2022. Hearst family maintains connection closing August 2019 day wedding Amanda Hearst great-granddaughter. Conservation agreement reached 2005 between department American Land Conservancy Hearst Corporation preserve undeveloped character coast.