Hearst Castle in San Simeon California

Our next stop after the Highway 1 beaches was the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. We didn't think that we would be able to find this place but we did happen upon it after a little while of following signs. This was quite an awesome place! As you pull into the driveway you can see a huge Castle on top of the mountain up a 5 mile driveway! We learned that this Castle was referred to as the "Little Ranch in San Simeon" by the owner William Randolph Hearst. He actually owned about 7 similiar pieces of land and all of them had just as extravagant of buildings. Here are some photos of the "Little Ranch in San Simeon".

Here is the entrance to the Castle.

This is the "Guest house".

Here is the "Neptune Pool". He actually had those Roman Ruins shipped over from Rome while he was on vacation.

Here is a look inside the guest house.

This is the Main House where W.R. Hearst stayed. He intentionally patchworked different pieces of history into all of the buildings from all over the world. I can't remember half of the details but if you look closely at the stonework you can see different shades and tones of stone where he pieced it together.

This is what it looks like at ground level when you look up at the massive Castle. This is entering through a side courtyard.

This is the fireplace in the main room. I love the contrast of warm tones and cool tones in this photo and the detail and intricasy of the stonework.

This ceiling here predates the travels of Chistipher Columbus by about 30 years. It was shipped over to San Simeon from Spain.

Here is the indoor swimming pool. The floor here is lined with with real gold!!! I'm not joking!

So there it is... The Hearst Castle. I want to end with a serious note about W.R. Hearst. With all due respect I kinda feel bad for the guy. They won't tell you this during the tour but after prying a couple of questions out of the tour guides I came upon some further information. W.R. Hearst was not really successful as a father or a husband. He mutually seperated with his wife after having his 5 sons and he moved in his new "mistress" shortly after. In Hearst's words his sons grew up "Lazy and Spoiled". Apart from his financial success he didn't really have much. I don't mean to sound pessimistic but I do think that all of us need to keep a close eye on our priorities in life. I would rather be a poor, God-Loving / God-Fearing, good husband, good father... than to be a spritually lost, relationship-less, and filthy rich "Success".

We will be posting more from our trip soon. Keep checking in.

www.awakenedimages.com . David & Cara Williams . awakenedimages@yahoo.com