You expect to find castles everywhere in Europe. You can barely drive for an hour without seeing signs for some stately home, castle or palace here. I wasn’t expecting to see signs for a castle in America, and yet I did.

Early in the twentieth century, newspaper magnate William Hearst inherited 125,000 acres in California. He employed a young architect out of San Francisco to build a small place for himself. With a continuous series of additions and modifications, this “small place” became Hearst Castle. It is an example of Mediterranean Revival architecture stuffed to the rafters with European art¹.

Hearst started with plans for a simple bungalow. He ended up with an estate that contains 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, swimming pools, an airfield, tennis courts, cinema and a zoo all spread over 8,300 square metres². Thinking of him as someone who keeps changing his mind doesn’t quite cut it.

I’m being unfair here; Hearst was a great collector of European art. He bought almost everything he could get his hands on. His travels in Spain and Portugal inspired him too. My first impression as I stepped off the courtesy coach was of Iberian architecture. Apparently he was impressed by a church in Ronda, Spain³. He used to keep his art collections in warehouses. His additions to this estate allowed him to showcase them.

A lovely way to get there is to tour the Californian coastal route.

I took the tour through the estate. The guide explained the history and provenance of the artworks as we strolled through the lavish rooms. Flemish tapestries, Spanish wooden choir stalls, Italian mosaic – the list of items is endless and impressive.

The authorities now classify the entire estate as a National Monument. They really do take care to preserve it properly. I like that a place as majestic as this is available to the public. They also restore and maintain all the art. The Castle now shows off lots of pieces that would have been lost to future generations.

Tours end at the spectacular Roman baths where the gold-and-azure mosaic⁴ twinkles in the sunlight.

If you’re driving along the Pacific Coast and fancy a cultural pit stop, do put Hearst Castle on your list.

Which other castles have you seen in America?

References

1. LACMA Reunites Treasures from William Randolph Hearst’s Famed Collection; Art Daily; (Retrieved 2019-07-02) [↩]
2. Hearst Castle history and art; Hearst Castle; (Retrieved 2019-07-02) [↩]
3. Architectural Wonders Of The Hearst Castle In San Simeon, California; Jeffrey Hagenmeir; Wandering Trader; 2017-07-29[↩]
4. Hearst Castle, The Pools, 2016[↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.