After living in California for more than forty years, I finally visited Hearst Castle with my husband, Paul, and it did not disappoint! We selected a late afternoon “Upstairs Suites” tour of the main house—aka “Casa Grande”—in early March (2024). The weather was sunny and clear on Saturday and we were thrilled to have predated the spring/summer crowds (we had only one other person on our tour which allowed for unobstructed views in each room).

Our guide, Justin, was charming and knowledgeable; giving us both the broad strokes of W.R. Hearst’s long-time collaboration with Architect Julia Morgan as well as some of the more interesting details about the size and scope of particular rooms. Apparently, Hearst did not like co-habitation among his guests; husbands and wives typically had separate bedrooms with a common sitting area between them.

Many rooms were…austere. Lots of religious paintings and extraordinary dark wood ceilings. Personally, I appreciated the restraint. Hearst could have created a medium-sized Versailles, yet, for the most part, he kept to an Old World Spanish motif (i.e. austerity and religiosity). What was particularly fascinating were the oversized library and office compared to his (and Marion Davies’) petite bedroom suites. Their private areas were smallish and not especially interesting, except for the art on the walls. His guest bedrooms were more often larger and more elaborate than those of the master and mistress of the house. It seem dichotomous with his character but who am I to judge?

I didn’t capture the adjoining bedrooms because I thought the common room between them was more striking. The vivid, almost-Tiffany blue and gold accents make for a beautiful jewel box of a space. While the period French furniture is lovely to behold, apparently it was uncomfortable to sit upon! Therefore, the other lounge chairs in the room are contemporary (i.e., comfortable) to the time W.R. Hearst and Marion Davies lived there.

W.R. Hearst had a splendid private library. Not only is the ceiling massive and awe-inspiring, the shelves circling the room hold a priceless collection of Black-Figure and Red-Figure Greek Pottery. Most of the books were collected to display his wealth, not his reading interests.

The bedroom suites for W.R. Hearst and Marion Davies were largely unremarkable so I took just one photo. According to our guide, Hearst directed Architect Julia Morgan to keep them modest as he mainly spent time in them with his eyes shut(!). The doorway pictured is from within Marion Davies’ suite, facing his across the sitting room.

Here is where W.R. Hearst spent the bulk of his time and it shows. What a room! It feels almost like a church and I sensed this was a deliberate choice on the part of Julia Morgan (that soaring ceiling!). She knew what her client worshiped (knowledge and power). To stand here is to feel the full weight of the Hearst Empire emanating from one room. If you got in here, you basically had an audience with the King.

P.S. I love books with gold leaf embossing!

We arrived at the Celestial Suite at the beginning of the “Golden Hour” where the late afternoon winter sun casts a warm glow over the golden curtains and bedding. The luminosity was hard to capture in a photo but in person the effect was dazzling. Needless to say, this was my favorite room of all! The pink-veined marble and gold accents lent the room an ethereal feminine energy that appealed to my inner Goddess. The only downside is that the bathroom suite is an entire floor below!

See that view? It pretty much extends across W.R. Hearst’s vast property at San Simeon. Over 80,000 acres worth (or something like that).

The Roman Pool captured Paul’s attention much more than the Neptune Pool. Here, the ocean and the sky are inverted so on the ceiling you see the ocean floor and in the pool’s depths you see the sky.

In summary, Hearst Castle is VERY impressive. I think we picked the right tour (and time of year) for our first visit. If we were to go back, I would probably select “Kitchens & Cottages” to see how they fed that many guests and staff on a regular basis.