West Coast Road Trip - Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle

If you are traveling down Route 1 in California, you absolutely must make a stop at Hearst Castle in San Simeon.  This is a town in the middle of nowhere but it is right on Route 1 so if you are on that drive anyway, this is a good place to rest.  We stayed at the Silver Surf Motel which is pretty basic but the rooms are clean, the beds are comfortable and they give you discount meal tickets for the restaurant next door.  I also didn't even bother turning on the A/C in our room and just opened a window because the temperatures drop significantly on this stretch of the West Coast, even in the summer.  I get a kick out of breathing fresh air and Northern California has that perk in spades. 

Neptune Pool

I bought our tour tickets online to see the great rooms a couple weeks prior to our trip and the Silver Surf Motel was one of the few hotels I booked prior to the trip.  Since San Simeon is a small town and Hearst Castle is the really the only draw, I would highly recommend planning ahead or you might find yourself without sleeping arrangements or tour tickets in the middle of nowhere without cell service.  I made the mistake of waiting too long to book Alcatraz in San Francisco and those tickets were 100% gone when I tried to book two weeks in advance.  So, book your tickets early no matter where you are traveling.  

Flemish Tapestries and Italian Fireplace

Hearst Castle was the humble abode of William Randolph Hearst  that took him over 20 years to build between 1919 and 1947.  The castle and the surrounding land that was somewhat of a Noah's ark as he had every animal on the land from zebras to polar bears, some of which are still around today.  His home mainly served as a networking playground to the rich and famous.  Hearst would get the biggest names of the time from actors, to politicians to business tycoons up to his mansion, get them to relax, seat them at a very narrow dinner table to encourage conversation and perked his ears up to hear about their work, their connections, their projects, their affairs and whatever else would come out of their mouths when relaxed and liquored up.  The information he extracted would help feed his newspapers.  So, in case you are wondering, ethical standards in journalism was not his thing.    

Wooden Hand Carved Ceilings

In addition to his publishing empire, Hearst was also a Congressman for a period of time and once ran for President.  He was married but lived with his mistress because his wife refused to grant him a divorce.  On the money front, it wasn't just his publishing empire that provided funding, Hearst came from money.  His Father made the original riches in mining when he came out to California from Missouri during the Gold Rush.

Dining Room/Fireplace/Table

The architect of the castle was Julia Morgan who, according to our tour guide, survived on coffee and chocolate.  My kind of woman.  Hearst said he was tired of camping on the hillside which is what he had done since he was a child.  At the age of 50, he said he wanted to build "a little something" on the hill.  The plans started out relatively small and he just kept adding on until the day he died.  On his deathbed, he said he only finished about half of what he envisioned.  

Indoor Roman Pool

Whenever people see outrageous structures like this one in the United States, the question always is, why don't rich people build outrageous structures like this today?  One answer: taxes.  Back in the early 1900's, taxes for the rich could be as low as 6% for incomes over $500,000 which in today's dollars is about $12 million.  Today, if you make anything more than $500,000, you are taxed at 37%.  The good times came to a hard stop during the Great Depression.  One of the best stories from our tour was that Hearst was not a fan of Franklin Roosevelt and proceeded to pillage him in his newspapers when he was running for President.  It did not work. Roosevelt won by a landslide.

Roman Pool

Since the country was in a serious financial mess at the time, Roosevelt went on to push a 75% tax through Congress on the 1% folks of the time.  On top of that, the State of California was also in financial distress and loaded on another 15% tax on top of the 75%.  So, Hearst went down to taking home $0.10 of every $1.00 he made.  Even for the super rich, that hurts.  Hearst almost lost the castle but hung on and was able to keep it until the hard times passed.  Don't feel too bad for him.  His descendants are still living the high life off of their trust funds.  Even a huge tax won't break a guy with enough money.