BEAUTIFUL
HEARST CASTLE Enjoy the breathtaking scenery of California's spectacular Coast Highway, a choice of five different tours of one of the world's most magnificent homes, and the National Geographic Theater, where the Castle's history comes to life on a five-story movie screen.
La Cuesta Encantada, better known as
Hearst Castle, is the California dream writ large: a Mediterranean fantasy, created by the great Berkeley architect Julia Morgan, where Hollywood stars and the San Francisco elite were brought together by perhaps the only man colossal enough to stand astride both worlds.
For all of William Randolph Hearst's riches, his most lasting treasure is the roughly 82,000-acre ranch that spreads out beneath fabled
Hearst Castle along California's Central Coast.
I honestly do not know how you could omit the Ragged Point Inn and Resort (www.raggedpointinn.com or 805/927-4502) on the Big Sur coast, 15 miles or so north of
Hearst Castle. Gorgeous views, nice hiking path to the beach, great restaurant, wonderful rooms, isolated peaceful atmosphere.
Back in the 19th century, William Randolph Hearst was enchanted by these views; one of the mansions standing today is built on the stone foundation of what was once slated to be
Hearst Castle. Around the 1880s, Sausalito was a popular retreat for wealthy San Franciscans, including Hearst.
My aunt Lyn planned it all, right down to the surprise adventure: sea kayaking at San Simeon State Park, near
Hearst Castle. To watch three generations paddling and laughing together was amazing and especially poignant at that place, where our family has been vacationing since my father was a boy.
October 6: Woodies at the Castle,
Hearst Castle, San Simeon; (805) 927-2960.
Many visitors have probably wished that they could take a little bit of
Hearst Castle home with them.
Touring
Hearst Castle by night From a distance, bathed in floodlights, it looks like a small Spanish hill town--all towers and tile roofs.
Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California for the Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan?
Currently, there are 13 units of study offered by PORTS: redwood ecology,
Hearst Castle, kelp forests, elephant seals, the Gold Rush, monarch butterfly life cycles and migration, redwood ecology, salmon life cycles, the science of habitat protection and restoration, state government, tide pools, weather and climate and mammal characteristics.
Julia Morgan designed more than 700 buildings in California, including the
Hearst Castle (right)...