We thought that there’s all there is to it. We didn’t know that for you to tour the whole castle, also called Casa Grande, you have to join three groups which means that you have to buy three sets of tickets. The Grand Rooms, which we joined, only allows viewing of 5 rooms out of the one hundred fifteen other rooms in this 69,000 square feet big house.
The last part of the guided tour was in the mini theater room, watching short and silent films about the Hearst family which gave us a glimpse of their grand lifestyles, playing tennis with celebrities, entertaining royalties, etc.
We had about an hour more to explore the expansive grounds unguided.
This place was originally a working family cattle ranch since 1865 which William Randolph Hearst referred to as “the ranch of San Simeon”.
He then hired California architect Julia Morgan to help him turn it into one of America’s grandest country estates. The estate was built in over 28 years and some areas were never finished.
Sino kaya ito? Sobra syang matipuno.
Hearst also formally called this hilltop property as “La Cuesta Encantada” or the Enchanted Hill.
Aside from the Casa Grande, there are three guest houses built in Mediterranean theme and named for its view. Called Casa Del Mar (Sea) , Casa del Monte (Mountains) and Casa del Sol (Sun).
Len and Kimberly
The statues all over the estate were all made of solid white cararra marble
Naku, ano kayang ginagawa nitong dalawa, mukhang mga menor de edad pa.
The estate has views of the Pacific Ocean
Len, ngayon ko lang napansin, wala palang salawal yung estatwa sa likod ko. Sino kaya iyon?
Did you guys make it to Solvang, too?
No, where is that?