May 4th: Hearst Castle

William Randolph Hearst inherited his deceased father’s fortune and property when his mother died in 1919. He had before this already established himself as a wealthy newspaper baron. With the extra money

from his inheritance he embarked upon an ambitious project to build a mansion on a hilltop in what had been his father’s California cattle ranch estate.

He worked on developing this extensive (and expensive!) building with the same architect from 1919 to 1947, and named it ‘La Cuesta Encantada’ –‘The Enchanted Hill’, but it became known as Hearst Castle due to its scale and luxury. This is a long shot photo from the visitor centre several miles away.

The interior was adorned with priceless antiques that Hearst gathered from all over the world, but principally Europe. The lounge here is an example of how all the rooms are furnished. Bear in mind that the contents today amounts to but a small fraction of what was there in Hearst’s time: the rest is in California museums as gifted by Hearst not long before he died.

The castle was principally a place of entertainment where Hearst could impress celebrities of the day. He was frequent host to film stars like Charlie Chaplin and had himself formed a relationship with another top filmstar, Marion Davies. This is where they would have dined before possibly watching a film in his full-size cinema. You might think this was a man of all-round impeccable refinement, but the detail of the photo isn’t good enough pick out the ketchup bottles on the table! 

What he did was to buy antiques, art treasures and pieces of historic buildings through dealers and from catalogues. These were incorporated into the fabric of the building, like this medieval arch.

Outside are beautiful patios using authentic ancient tiles and statues. There are stunning views over the countryside, most of which he owned, and towards the sea 5 miles away.

Everywhere in the gardens and exterior walkways one stumbled across centuries old statues, urns and friezes.

The indoor pool was something else. Finished in blue glass tiles with gold glaze, the statues by the windows are genuine Roman.

The “castle” design itself was based on a church in the Spanish city of Ronda in Andalucia. Spanish architecture was a popular theme for wealthy people in Hearst’s time to adopt for their grand houses.

Hearst was the richest of the super-rich; he had estates near New York, elsewhere in California, a vaste ranch in Mexico and a real, medieval castle at St Donats in South Wales.

By coincidence, I have a connection there. I spent my childhood in the town of Cowbridge only 5 miles from St Donats, so I knew it well, but not under Hearst’s ownership which was from 1925 to 1941. Interestingly, in 1938 or ‘39, Mr Hearst came in my grandfather’s shoe shop in Cowbridge and was served by my dad, who was working for granddad. Mr Hearst inquired if they sold socks; they did, and dad persuaded him to buy a whole box!

Mr Hearst employed many people on the St Donats estate from Cowbridge, which gave rise to a variety of personal stories, passed down and no doubt embellished, of ‘goings on’ with his lavish entertainment of the rich and famous.

Hearst Castle was a real eye-opener as to how the mega-wealthy lived in the first half of the 20th century. The tour guide gave the impression that Hearst was a great benefactor by buying up and, by so doing, ‘rescuing’ ancient treasures. However, we felt that that was incidental to his acquisition of these objects; they were more symbols of his wealth and power, the evidence for which was that pieces from many different sources and eras were cobbled together in each room without much connection or historical link. He also had the largest private zoo in the USA here on the estate, and perhaps the Castle itself was his zoo for antiquities.

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