Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle was built by newspaper tychoon Willian Randolph Hearst.





It is located near San Simeon, California, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, about 250 miles (400 km) from both Los Angeles and San Francisco.




It's built on a 40,000 acre (160 km²) ranch that he inherited from his mother, which was purchased by his father in 1865.




This is the Neptune Pool :




The young Hearst wanted to built his own castle after his long Europe trip with his mother when he was at 12 years old (if I remember the age correctly). So he started the plan on the same year his mother died, in 1919.




The castle has 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world's largest private zoo.




The castle itself is five miles (eight kilometers) inland. Access is only allowed by a scheduled tour bus.




The tour guide brought us around the castle. I was quite surprised when he mentioned that the main architect is a lady - Julia Morgan from San Francisco. They faced many difficulties such as moving materials up the hill etc.




The Gothic style study :




The indoor swimming pool :




The pool uses the gold mosaic tiles :




The main house :




I forgot how much we paid for the ticket, but according to Wiki, as of 2007 it's USD$20-$30 depending on the season and time of day. Reservations are recommended during busy periods such as summer, weekends and holidays.