Spotlight - 11.2019

38 Spotlight 11/2019 DESIGN

Fotos: Paul R. Jones, Aimee M Lee/Shutterstock.com

— Hearst Castle is one of the most visit-

ed attractions in a state with very many

visited attractions — and soon enough,

had boarded the bus for a 15-minute ride

along the curvy road inland and upward.

An audio recording in the bus summa-

rized Hearst’s initial ideas for his castle.

He had inherited the 40,000 acres of land

along with $11,000,000 from his mother,

and was familiar with the terrain after

years camping there as a boy. Using his

fortune to invest in magazines, newspa-

pers, and radio stations, Hearst also be-

came an art collector and bon vivant. In

1919, he commissioned Morgan to build

a house at his “ranch at San Simeon,”

as he called it, instructing her to build

“something a little more comfortable on

the hill.” Morgan worked on the structure

until 1947, leaving a ballroom and cloister

unfinished as Hearst’s health began to fail.

He died in Los Angeles in 1951.

Despite the fine Mediterranean flair,

however, Hearst Castle somehow keeps

its rural character. As our bus neared

the hilltop, our driver pointed out cit-

rus trees laden with fruit and noted that

Hearst intended to grow his own food on

the estate for himself and his guests. She

also directed our attention to the Pergo-

la, which Morgan designed for Hearst

and his guests to ride horses underneath.

Grapevines at one time had covered the

structure, making for a shady passageway.

Our tour was designed to make us feel

as Hearst’s guests did back in the day, our

guide told us as he showed our visiting

group the way to the Neptune Pool. Ten-

nis, swimming, dining, billiards, watching

films, and fine dining in the regal Refecto-

ry were all part of a privileged stay at the

hilltop palace. Charlie Chaplin, Winston

Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, Joan

Crawford, Cary Grant, and Buster Kea-

ton were but a few of the famous people

Hearst welcomed to the castle.

Before entering the palace, we walked

through the expansive gardens, which

include California native plants and rare

flowers planted during Hearst’s residency,

as well as a Roman sarcophagus and ele-

gant statues such as a replica of Antonio

Canova’s Three Graces. We also admired

the beautiful tiles, many of them with

Renaissance and Baroque floral motifs,

and stood for a long while before the main

house, called La Casa Grande, and its two

bell towers — each housing 18 bells made

in Belgium, and inspired by the Church of

Santa Maria la Mayor in Ronda, Spain.

Our guide then led us inside again, as

a guest in Hearst’s time would have been

led, which meant entry into the impres-

sive Assembly Room. Cool and dark,

with high wooden ceilings, the room is

covered in Flemish tapestries, including

one from the 16th century showing Sci-

pio Africanus, who led Roman legions

across Spain, as well as 17th-century

columns, an Italian 16th-century marble

door frame, and one of Hearst’s most val-

uable sculptures: Antonio Canova’s Venus.

Later, while visiting the indoor Roman

Pool, we would be impressed by similar

works showing Diana the Huntress and

Aphrodite, set against a display of mosaics

composed of Venetian glass and gold leaf.

But in the spirit of following what

guests in Hearst’s time would have ob-

served, we exited the Assembly Room

and made our way into the Gothic-style

Refectory, or dining room. The long din-

ing table, originally from an Italian mon-

astery, was laid with extravagant north-

ern European silverware. Looking up,

we saw a ceiling made up of 15 life-size

panels showing saints and coats of arms.

Any guest would have felt honored, if not

speechless, as if he or she were a dignitary

invited to a state dinner. But then our

guide noted with good humor that Hearst

had fairly simple taste in food, which in-

cluded serving ketchup and pickles in

their original jars and offering guests pa-

per napkins during the meal.

It was these more personal descrip-

tions of a past era rather than all of the op-

ulence that stayed with me as we settled

into the Theatre, where Hearst used to en-

joy watching the latest Hollywood films

with his guests. There, we saw film foot-

age of various Hearst parties, including

scenes with Charlie Chaplin and Hearst’s

mistress, the comedienne Marion Davies,

frolicking around the garden.

And then, there was a brief glimpse of

Julia Morgan, who, the moment she notic-

es the camera, covers her face. To this day,

very little has been written about her. She

never gave an interview, never married

nor had children, and lived relatively sim-

ply. Still, Hearst Castle lives on, so much

so that in commenting on San Simeon

on his visit during its heyday, George Ber-

nard Shaw said, “This is what God would

have built if he had had the money.”

cloister [(klOIst&r]

, Kloster, Kreuzgang

coat of arms

[)koUt Ev (A:rmz]

, Wappen

commission [kE(mIS&n]

, beauftragen

dignitary [(dIgnEteri]

, Würdenträger(in)

fail [feI&l]

, versagen

film footage

[(fIlm )fUtIdZ]

, Filmmaterial

frolic [(frA:lIk]

, herumtollen

glimpse [glImps]

, flüchtiger Blick

grapevine [(greIpvaIn]

, Weinstock, Weinrebe

heyday [(heIdeI]

, Glanzzeit

inherit [In(herEt]

, erben

jar [dZA:r]

, Glas

marble [(mA:rb&l]

, Marmor-

mistress [(mIstrEs]

, Geliebte

monastery [(mA:nEsteri]

, Kloster

napkin [(nÄpkIn]

, Serviette

pickle [(pIk&l]

, Essiggurke

refectory [ri(fektEri]

, Refektorium, Speise-

saal

regal [(ri:g&l]

, königlich, majestätisch

rural [(rUrEl]

, ländlich

silverware [(sIlv&rwer]

, Besteck, Tafelsilber

tile [taI&l]

, Fliese