July 20

HEARST CASTLE.

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William Randolph Hearst had a private zoo, and allowed his animals to run free, including the zebra.


And mountain goat type things.


And cows that are totally unimpressed.


Truly a castle on the hill.


The Neptune pool is epic.





The facade:




Even the drain pipes are fancy!

The grounds are beautiful:

There were multicolored hydrangeas blooming everywhere. They look like clusters of butterflies.


Bougainvillea and cherubs.


Every garden needs a headless statue.


Apple trees!


Also, every garden needs a big rusty cannon.

Great Ceilings:








Great Lamps:






This is my favorite kind of lamp, the kind where the shades are made of parchment.

Great Beds:






Interesting Artwork:






I also loved the mock closets, made to look like they would if there were people living/staying there.



A lady guest's closet.


"W.R. Hearst's" closet


"Marion Davies's" closet.

Some whole rooms were just breathtaking in their detail and construction:




This particular room was so full of stuff, including an ancient Egyptian statue, these crazy blue wall hangings, the Renaissance-looking ceiling from above, and, of course, lamps:


The guest library:




Hearst's study:



The Call of the Wild and A Christmas Carol.

And my FAVORITE room, the Celestial Suite:




So beautiful, I cannot believe it.


The architect, Julia Morgan, had her workshop on the grounds, and this is a model of it.


The tennis courts, which would be lit with movie studio lights:


Below which is...


THE ROMAN POOL.


Yes, those are cobalt and gold tiles, lit with alabaster lamps, and the surface of the water is so perfectly unbroken that it's unreal.


This little inner cove bit is so interesting, because the light that comes through is from glass blocks on the floor of the tennis court on the roof, and as the sun moves, the light comes in at different angles, illuminating the gold tiles on the bottom of the pool:



We are really happy to be here, regardless of how nonplussed we look.