THERE WERE STILL A FEW PLACES left for us to visit in California when we returned from Columbia. We decided to move our base north from Vandenberg to the Wine Country RV Resort in Los Robles — not for the wine nor the oaks, but for the castle. In the dozen years that I worked for the Hearst Corporation in New York I arranged VIP trips for business associates and family to visit the Hearst Castle but I had never been there myself.
Christmas Table, Casa Grande
Alternatively called San Simeon or La Cuesta Encantada (“Enchanted Hill”) the former home of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst from 1919 until 1947. San Simeon includes four main buildings, 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms and 127 acres of gardens on a quarter-million acres of ranch land, just proving Scott Fitzgerald’s observation that the rich are different from you and me.
Hearst’s dream of an architectural museum was certainly achieved — there are Greek pools, Egyptian statues, Tuscan buildings, English gardens, art from around the world and Mediterranean views of the coast. The big house, Casa Grande, was done up for the holidays, complete with presents ‘neath the trees. And our guide seemed familiar with the history of nearly every piece.
Indoor pool
As visitors we were in good company. A guestlist would include Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the brothers Marx, Lucky Lindy, Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Bob Hope, Silent Cal Coolidge, FDR and Winston Churchill. And a cast of millions.
