Hearst Castle

Here are a few photos taken during a tour of Hearst Castle that Christine and I took the day after my bike ride. The castle is located in San Simeon, CA 5 miles off the Highway 1 and was the former home of William Randolf Hearst. It has since been donated by the Hearst Family and is now a part of the California State Park system.
















As seen from Highway 1

Excuse the terrible small photo as it was taken with the camera on my phone. Double click on it and zoom in and you should be able to see the Castle grounds up on the hill.















Casa Grande (ie, Hearst's main digs)

Only 115 rooms.






























Neptune Pool















Me at the Neptune Pool

Our tour guide intimated that he and his co-workers are allowed to use the pool a couple of times a year and invite their friends. How do I get in line for that?















Outdoor Terrace facing West




















Olympiad Christine

Appropriately wearing her Nike's Women's Marathon Finisher Shirt















Garden Flowers















Mosaic tile depicting Neptune at Casa Grande Entryway

Hearst was an obsessive art collector and the house and grounds were littered with priceless works of art including this 400+ year old Spanish mosaic tile at the entryway to the main house. The master mason, who restored it demanded that the entrance be closed off so no one could walk on it.















Indoor Pool

Modeled after Roman Baths















Actual Gold-Leafed mosaic tile floor at the indoor pool




















Diving Platform at Indoor Pool















No Grey Poupon?

On the main dining hall table.















Home Theater

Puts my HDTV set up to shame. Hearst was a big movie fan and would regularly have movie stars like Charlie Chaplin and Cary Grant as his guests.

We were only able to squeeze in a single overview tour of the estate. There are three other tours that concentrate on other areas like the gardens, old zoo areas, Casa Grande Bedrooms that I'd like to see one of these days. I wish they offered an engineering tour as there is some impressive civil engineering work at play here.