Hearst Castle

the next day we went to Hearst Castle which was only a five minute drive from the campground (the main reason we decided to sleep there). Hearst Castle was one of the homes of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. it was regularly visited by movie stars like Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, and Joan Crawford in the 20's and 30's. that was one of the things that initially peaked my interest in going there. I had images of elaborate Great Gatsby style parties with all the celebrity guests decked out in beautiful clothing. 

we took a bus to the castle which was at the top of the hill. the tour would have been worth it if it was just to see the amazing view of the ocean from the hill.

there were five different tours and you had to pay for each separately. we chose the grand rooms tour that included the assembly room, billiard, and theater. the inside of the castle was fantastic and it was like a museum of antique architecture pieces from as early as the 15th century. each room had a different ceiling that was taken from old castles, cathedrals from all over the world but mainly Italy and Spain. all of the furniture and decorations were museum worthy pieces as well. he was definitely an extravagant man who lived a life of excess. 

 the movie theater was my favorite part. they had put on some home videos of Hearst and I was imaging all of the movie stars watching their own movies in that theater. 

after the tour we were able to explore the garden and pools on our own. 

this is the Neptune Pool which was sadly drained due to cracks they need to fix. the pool started out much smaller but he continually added to it.

the Roman Pool was his indoor pool that was designed in the style of the ancient Roman baths. the tile work was stunning. 

we really enjoyed the tour but wish it were a little cheaper so we could have seen more of the rooms. I would definitely recommend someone seeing it though if they are in the area.