A Castle Fit for a King

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that when it came to building a house, Hearst ended up building one of the largest private homes in the United States. Begun in 1919, the project was known variously as San Simeon, la Cuesta Encantada ("Enchanted Hill"), or simply Hearst Castle, and by any stretch of the imagination it is astonishing: 60,000 square feet in the main house ("Casa Grande"), another 10,000 in the three guest houses, 56 bedrooms, 61 baths. And perhaps most astonishing of all (at least for the time) it was designed by a woman.

Julia Morgan became an architect at a time when women simply didn't do those things. In fact, she waited two entire years for the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris while the professors warmed to the idea of allowing a woman in their midst. Morgan proved fully capable, however, designing hundreds of buildings throughout California as well as in Hawaii. The Hearst Castle project - including the construction and outfitting of Hearst's private zoo - ended up taking 28 years, though ultimately was never fully completed.

Hearst Castle today is run by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and is officially known as Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument. The house and grounds are open to the public. The hardest part about visiting the estate is getting to it, for it lies virtually in the middle of nowhere. It's a very beautiful nowhere, however, located on the central California coast near San Luis Obispo, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Once you get there, you can avail yourself of one of four basic tours that are available. The oldest, known simply as Tour 1, is a general "Experience" tour which introduces you to main building, taking you through both the lower and the upper floors. A second tour explores these upper floors in depth. A third tour takes you through the North Wing and one of the guest houses, while the fourth takes you through the castle's beautiful gardens. Each tour lasts approximately an hour and 45 minutes, including travel time up Cuesta Encantada. In addition, Tour 1 includes a 40-minute introductory film in the Visitors' Center at the bottom of the hill - Hearst Castle: Building the Dream presented on a 5-story screen in the National

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