William Randolph Hearst with architect Julia Morgan in 1926.
Orson Welles , Citizen Kane, 1941. The film was was based on Hearst and the castle in the film was called, Xanadu
Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst first approached architect Julia Morgan with ideas for a new project a century ago in April of 1915. His original idea was to build a bungalow, according to a draftsman who worked in Morgan’s office. Hearst said:
“I would like to build something upon the hill at San Simeon. I get tired of going up there and camping in tents. I’m getting a little too old for that. I’d like to get something that would be a little more comfortable.”
After a month of discussions, Hearst’s original idea swelled to royal proportions and the exterior style went from Asian themes to the Spanish Revival that was just gaining popularity 100 years ago. Morgan had designed the Los Angeles Herald Examiner headquarters in 1915 and Hearst was fond of Spanish Revival. Hearst particularly admired Tower of the Church of Santa María la Mayor, in Ronda, Spain, which served as inspiration for his future castle asking Morgan to pattern the Main Building towers after them. Morgan persuaded Hearst to begin with the guest cottages, because they could be completed quickly and construction began in 1919 and continued for almost three decades through 1947.
The end result is a mish-mash of historic styles that Hearst had admired in his travels around Europe. To say Hearst was a prolific buyer, would be a gross understatement. He didn’t rape Europe to furnish his home but rather he built this estate to empty his warehouses full of art and antiques. The floor plan of the Main Building is rambling and odd due to his habit of buying centuries-old ceilings, which dictated the proportions and decor of various rooms.
The finished estate –known as Hearst Castle, and also San Simeon and The Ranch– has 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world’s largest private zoo with exotic animals roaming the grounds. The Neptune Pool was rebuilt three times, its centerpiece the façade of an ancient Roman temple. Located near the edge of the hilltop, it has the best views of the mountains, ocean and the main house. Most of the estate’s chandeliers have bare light bulbs, because electrical technology was so new when Hearst Castle was built. During Hearst’s ownership a private power plant supplied electricity to the remote location.
Weekend guests at “The Ranch” often included Greta Garbo, center, John Gilbert, lying center, Buster Keaton, squatting, Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg, far right.
Invitations were highly coveted during its heyday and the Hollywood and political elite often visited, usually flying into the estate’s airfield or taking a private Hearst-owned train car from Los Angeles. Among Hearst’s A-list guests were Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the Marx Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, Dolores Del Rio, and Winston Churchill. Guests were expected to attend the formal dinners each evening, but they were normally left to their own devices during the day, while Hearst directed his business affairs. The estate’s theater usually screened films from Hearst’s own movie studio, Cosmopolitan Productions.
Hearst Castle was the inspiration for the “Xanadu” mansion of the 1941 Orson Welles film Citizen Kane, a fictionalization of William Randolph Hearst’s career. Only two projects have ever been granted permission to film at Heart’s Castle: Stanley Kubrick‘s Spartacus, which used the castle to stand in as Crassus’ villa, and Lady Gaga‘s music video for G.U.Y.
One condition of the Hearst Corporation’s donation of the estate was that the Hearst family would be allowed to use it when they wished. Patty Hearst, the granddaughter of William Randolph, related that as a child, she hid behind statues in the Neptune Pool while tours passed by. Although the main estate is now a museum, the Hearst family continues to use an older Victorian house on the property as a retreat.
Hearst Castle joined the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1972 and became a United States National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976.
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