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Construction Period: 1919 – 1951
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Location: San Simeon, California, USA
La Cuesta Encantada, the luxurious retreat known as “the enchanted hill” of William Randolph Hearst, literally means “the corner of the world.” While the powerful elite of the early 20th century preferred to live and settle in the Eastern United States, Hearst delighted in residing in the West. From this mountaintop site, which rises 490 meters in the Santa Lucia range, one can gaze down upon the jagged coastline, majestic rocky bays, and the deep blue Pacific Ocean below; he truly was the master of all he surveyed. Only a single trail, marked by the traces of wagon wheels, led to the site when he began the project in 1919, with no coastal road to the north leading to Monterey or San Francisco. The nearest train station in San Luis Obispo, 64 kilometers away, connected the area to Los Angeles and the rest of the country.
Panorama of Hearst Castle (Photo: madisonavenuejournal)
But in this remote location, he built an extraordinary house both to entertain friends and famous figures—including stars like comedian Charlie Chaplin and playwright George Bernard Shaw—and to serve as the headquarters from which he ruled his own business empire. Hearst, the first media mogul of the 20th century, was also the owner of many newspapers, magazines, and film studios; during the day, he closely monitored his financial profits via telephone, and at night, he hosted lavish parties, dances, and screenings.
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Architect Julia Morgan – the first woman to graduate from the École de Beaux-Arts in Paris, led a small army of artisans. (Photo: discover) |
Initially, Hearst envisioned a retreat in the countryside on a sprawling 109,270-hectare ranch and mountain range. Julia Morgan, a favorite architect of his mother, was approached by Hearst to design a one-story wooden house in a “Japanese-Swiss” style. It is likely he envisioned the house resembling the wooden structures of Berkeley, combined with the Japanese architectural elements evident in the Arts and Crafts style. Morgan may not have realized she was embarking on a project that would span over 20 years.
Building a Palace in a Wilderness
Despite the demands of business, Hearst devoted much time to working closely with Morgan on the architecture, one of his passions. As the project progressed, Morgan had to organize hiring craftsmen, sourcing materials, and acquiring countless invaluable antiques for construction. All food and furnishings were shipped to the site. A pier and several warehouses were built in the small village of San Simeon at the foot of the mountain. The location also required housing for workers, as there were no towns nearby. From the warehouses, supplies were sorted and transported up the hill by caterpillar trucks on a specially constructed road.
Working in a makeshift building, Morgan directed a team of male and female draftsmen, as well as a crew of laborers. Both Hearst and Morgan agreed on using reinforced concrete to withstand California’s earthquake-prone coastline, with proportions and decorations as splendid as a Spanish Renaissance palace.
The plan to immediately construct three temporary houses, completed in 1921, eventually turned into massive guest houses with 8-10 rooms, supported by wooden piles down the hillside. The entire hilltop would be restructured with 51 hectares designated as parkland, flat terraces, tennis courts, and shaded riding paths with high trellises, allowing Hearst and his guests to ride comfortably. The main house, known as Casa Grande, spanned 5,640 square meters, featuring 130 rooms styled after Spanish Renaissance twin-towered churches, modeled after the La Ronda church in Spain. Across from the three temporary houses, a landscaped plaza formed a rustic village atop the hill, creating a lush landscape reminiscent of the Garden of Eden amidst rugged mountains.
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Like many elements in Hearst’s endless project, the Neptune pool was designed, built, demolished, redesigned, and rebuilt several times, blending features of a Roman temple with classical columns and sculptures. (Photo: betterphoto) |
As work progressed, no construction seemed to be finished. If Hearst wanted to replace a larger fireplace in a room or build a bigger pool or if he found an architectural style he liked, walls, ceilings, or even the already cast concrete fireplace would have to be torn down and redesigned. The Neptune outdoor pool, measuring 155 square meters, was expanded with a façade featuring Roman temple columns. Casa Grande was finally occupied in 1927.
The house also featured lavish bathrooms and a tiled indoor pool adorned with Byzantine architectural styles, a zoo with lions, zebras, and other exotic animals, and Casa Grande alone included 41 fireplaces, 61 bathrooms, 38 bedrooms, numerous libraries, suites, kitchens, a cinema, and a dining room; all constructed under Julia Morgan’s supervision. For 20 years, every Saturday she traveled to San Simeon on an overnight train after seven days of work in her office in San Francisco to oversee construction and detailed design and consult with her client, Hearst.
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With his extravagant demeanor, Hearst decorated the main residence, known as Casa Grande, modeled after a Spanish church, prominently within a small village of guest cabins. The tower contains bedrooms. (Photo: yenwen) |
An Unfinished Dream
La Cuesta Encantada was never completed. Construction continued steadily until 1937, even as Hearst’s colossal fortune approached depletion. Burdened with debts, he was forced to restructure and cut back on his extravagant lifestyle. In 1947, an additional fourth and final floor was added, and by then, 84-year-old Hearst visited San Simeon for the last time. After his death in 1951, the walls of the dance room in the blueprint remained unfinished—the bare concrete walls were meant to connect to the house still visible.
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| Green tiles and gold accents of the indoor pool sparkle like the throne room of the Byzantine Empire. (Photo: yenwen) |
This bold construction celebrated Hearst’s wealth and his iconoclastic character, shaping the 20th century. Despite the coffered ceilings adorned with antique decorations purchased from Spanish monasteries, La Cuesta Encantada was not a museum or a recreation of a historical monument, but simply a residence merging modernity with the past in a patchwork tapestry. After his death, the estate lost its significance as a personal possession. His family transferred the estate to the state of California in 1957 to become a state park, and it remains one of the state’s most famous tourist attractions today.
