Hearst Castle on the Turkey Day

Hearst Castle is about 45 minutes away from where I live, but I had never been there. It somehow sounded like a very touristy place, and going there wasn't high in my priority list. Then, a close friend of mine who happens to be working at the castle invited me to visit there on the Thanksgiving Day. "No, they won't serve you turkey dinner at the castle..," he says, "but you can chill out by the swimming pool."  Hmmm. I had no particular plan for the day since I was not going to cook big dinner for the night. Chilling out by the pool sounded definitely better than being stuck in the house. So we went. My friend who was visiting me from Osaka, my son, and I hopped on my car and drove north on Hwy 1.

It was a bit hazy, but a beautiful day for a drive. 

Hearst Castle, the former estate of a newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, stands on a hill overlooking the Pacific. He built this humongous castle on the ranch he inherited from his father. Hearst formally named this estate "La Cuesta Encantada" ('The Enchanted Hill'), but it is said that he continued to call it "the ranch". The only indication that it used to be a ranch is the countless cows you see while climbing up the hill from the visitor center to the castle. Other than that, this place is nothing but a ranch. The main house looks like a Spanish cathedral and is surrounded by meticulously groomed gardens and palm trees. Then, there is the stunning outdoor swimming pool that reminds you of an ancient Roman temple. The whole place is a mélange of historic architectural styles. I mean, it is stunningly beautiful. Yet, I was sitting in a lounge chair by the Neptune Pool and wondered, "What the heck is this place?!" Surrounded by all the snow-white marble sculptures, you would forget you're in the central coast of California. It is so surreal...

Inside of the house is equally crazy. There are 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, and 19 sitting rooms (I didn't count them myself). Every room and every corner of the house is decorated with art and antiques, mostly of the medieval religious tone. With all this artifacts, the house looks more like a museum, and it was rather spooky. Even his bedroom (surprisingly small in size) was full of religious arts. I wonder if Hearst could ever felt relaxed in his bed, surrounded by all the religious figures.

I somehow felt relieved when I stepped out of the house since it overwhelmingly stuffy in the house. I walked to the Neptune Pool again and sat down by the water. This guy had tremendous amount of money, and it is obvious he could get anything he wanted. But was he happy? For some reason, the Hearst Castle didn't appear to be a happy place.

Maybe I would rent "Citizen Kane" again...