Hearst Castle
A hilltop estate built over twenty-eight years for William Randolph Hearst, never finished, filled with imported European fabric.
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Hearst and the architect Julia Morgan worked on this from 1919 to 1947 and never called it done - the main house Casa Grande has around fifty-six bedrooms and the estate ran to over a hundred rooms across the guest houses. Morgan was the first woman licensed as an architect in California and ran the whole project. Much of what is in it is genuinely old and imported: Roman sarcophagi, Spanish choir stalls, a complete carved ceiling. The Neptune Pool outside is faced in marble with a Roman temple front assembled from real antique fragments; it has been drained for repairs at times because it leaks. Hearst kept a private zoo, and zebras still graze the estate land below.
What you actually see
- Casa Grande - around fifty-six bedrooms, never finished.
- The Neptune Pool - marble, with genuine antique temple fragments.
- Imported European fabric - sarcophagi, choir stalls, carved ceilings.
- Zebras on the estate land - left from Hearst's private zoo.
When to go
April to October. Half a day.
Honest expectations
Access is by guided tour only, booked ahead, and each tour covers a different part. The bus up takes fifteen minutes each way. Highway 1 closures from landslides have cut access for long periods. The Neptune Pool has been empty during repairs.
Nearby
The elephant seal rookery is up the coast; Cambria is south.
What to pack for Hearst Castle
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
