Building of the Week: Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California

It’s almost impossible for me to think of William Randolph Hearst without first thinking of Charles Foster Kane. The two are inextricably associated in my mind. This, I’m sure, would really bother the late Mr. Hearst, and would, no doubt, tickle Orson Wells from whose brain the latter character sprang.


Nevertheless, leaving the fictional Mr. Kane aside, and focusing on reality, Hearst Castle was built for a variety of reasons—most of which cross over into the realm of the fictional motivations of Charles Foster Kane. Hearst was a voracious collector of art. The mansion was not furnished with art and antiques, the art and antiques were furnished BY the mansion.

Though the sprawling estate itself is often referred to as San Simeon, that is actually the name of the unincorporated city nearby Hearst’s land. Hearst himself referred to the estate as “The Ranch,” with the name “Hearst Castle” arising later. Hearst’s father, George Hearst, had purchased the huge parcel of land in 1865. At the time, the estate totaled 250,000 acres and already had a large Victorian home on the property. The original house remains and is occupied—at times—by members of the Hearst Family. In 1915, William Randolph Hearst contacted architect Julia Morgan about building a bungalow atop what he referred to as “the hill at San Simeon.” This “bungalow” soon began to take a different form.

After much debate regarding the style in which the house should be built, Hearst and Morgan concluded on a combination of Spanish Revival, Renaissance, and Mexican Colonial architecture. By the time construction began in 1919, the design strayed from even those three to something completely of its own invention—incorporating pieces of ancient and antique European castles, churches and palaces that Hearst purchased and had shipped to California in pieces. The result is a mansion that is a beautiful Frankenstein’s monster of parts—mortared together into a peculiarly grand puzzle of everything from Baroque to Gothic architecture. Hearst often capriciously ordered parts of the house to be torn apart and reassembled because he didn’t like a particular detail. He would have whole sections rebuilt repeatedly until he was completely satisfied. A good example of this is the Neptune Pool—the centerpiece of which is a reassembled Greek temple. This was rebuilt three times before Hearst was happy.

The main house consists of 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a cinema (curiously lined with book shelves), an airfield, and (“the world's largest”) private zoo and totals over 60,000 square feet. Three other mansions on the property add another 30,000 square feet to the living space.

One of the most impressive features of the estate is Hearst’s monumental art collection. To learn more about the collection, the castle and San Simeon, visit the official Web site.