They say there are no true castles in the U.S. You may believe it, too, until you walk into Hearst Castle or La Cuesta Encantada as its former owner called it.
Last updated: July 27, 2026
Let’s Visit a Castle
Poems are written about some of the most outstanding medieval citadels in Europe. Ancient palaces of Asia have given birth to some of the most thrilling adventures depicted in writing and films. These timeless architectural and cultural masterpieces still lure millions of people all over the world centuries after they pompously opened the doors to their royal residents for the first time.
Yet the list of outstanding castles that keep the entire world in awe shrinks when the topic turns to the historic monuments in the U.S. Sure enough, the country has its own castles: ancient dwellings carved into mountain cliffs with secret passages and entryways. Palaces influenced by the opulent Medieval architectural style of Europe and the rare luxury of Asia? Well, the U.S.A. as a country didn’t even exist to ride that wave.
A Castle on California’s Central Coast
Yet none of these mattered when William Hearst, inspired by the magnificent Medieval-style architecture of Europe, embarked on a decades-long project of building a castle in California. A wealthy newspaper publisher and politician, Hearst chose the hills where he had run as a child and enjoyed the far-stretching views of San Simeon and California’s Central Coast for this grand castle. Later the place would be known as La Cuesta Encantada.
It took a long time, more than 28 years, for the castle as we can see it now to festoon the sweeping hill in San Simeon. Hearst hired a talented architect, Julia Morgan, to bring his vision to life. The choice was rather unthinkable at that time. During the era of severe gender inequalities, a woman architect had little chances in a male-dominated field.
Hearst was involved in the process as much as his busy schedule allowed. He was often seen demanding to throw away pieces of art he didn’t like.
The wealthy tycoon disliked the term “castle” and preferred to call his colossal home “the ranch”. It was Hearst who renamed the 115-room mansion to La Casa Grande (“The Big House”). La Casa Grande is an essential part of Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument today.
The Extravagant Past of Hearst Castle
Parties were never ending at the historic Hearst Castle, and so was its construction. One of the most expensive buildings at that time, the mansion was under construction from 1919 until 1947. While Hearst was entertaining his guests, Morgan was building and designing.
Hearst Castle had been making headlines since it rose on the hill near San Simeon. A new level of popularity hit the finest example of the priciest historic buildings in 1941. While some Hollywood celebrities were eager to join the famous parties, others satirized the extravaganza and glamorous lifestyle of William Hearst.
So, Orson Welles’s newest movie, Citizen Kane, didn’t approve of such foolish waste of resources and money. Naturally, the movie didn’t get a round of applause from the owner of the Casa Grande.
No one knows the exact cost of the project of such magnitude and opulence. Some experts estimate that the construction and furnishing of Hearst Castle at the time of its glory was near $10 million.
From Castle to State Park
Hearst Castle boasts a total of 165 rooms in its main house (La Casa Grande) and three guest houses. Altogether it’s 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and other entertaining and sport facilities. In its heyday, the historic castle also contained the world’s largest private zoo.
When Willian Randolph Hearst suffered financial distress during the Great Depression, the zoo had to be dismantled. The majority of the exotic animals were donated to public zoos or sold off. Some, however, were left behind to fend for themselves. The descendants of those original zoo inhabitants, such as feral zebras and Barbary sheep (aoudad), still roam the sweeping hills of Central California.
After Hearst’s death in 1947, his family donated the complex and many of its valued relics to the State of California. The historic structure has since operated as the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument. The castle opened its doors to the public for the first time in June 1958. On May 11, 1976, it became a United States National Historic Landmark.
Visiting Hearst Castle
Only guide tours are allowed inside the grand castle or anywhere on the property.
With the monument’s immense size and history, one tour covers only a specific section of the castle. For the first time visitors, it’s recommended to start with the Grand Rooms tour. Having never been inside Hearst Castle, it’s the option we opted for.
The Grand Rooms tour starts at the bottom of the stairs that lead to a spacious inner courtyard with the iconic Neptune Pool. Smaller structures and their many doors that, like in a maze, can take you to secret rooms, nooks and crannies surround you as you follow a guide.
Yet you won’t walk through any of these doors this time. You and some other 50 people (if the tour is fully booked) follow your guide to the globally recognized Casa Grande. The second guide trails behind the group and with an eagle eye observes the surroundings, making sure that no one steers off the pre-planned route and gets lost, intentionally or unintentionally, somewhere else on the property.
Grand Rooms Tour
The tour lasts 70 minutes. Over the course of this excursion, visitors walk nearly a mile and climb up and down approximately 140 steps.
Along the way, with a larger-than-life story, your guide directs your attention to specific sculptures and what Hearst and Morgan intended to achieve by placing them in those exact places. You get a chance to see the iconic Neptune Pool, walk across different sections of the inner courtyard, and admire the resplendent views of California’s Central Coast.
This introductory walk lasts approximately 20 minutes. The most anticipated part of the Hearst Castle Grand Rooms Tour starts at the entrance to the opulent white mansion decorated in Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean Revival styles.
This was Hearst’s primary residence for more than 20 years. Apart from the housing quarters, the extravagant mansion served as dining and entertaining area for all Hearst’s eminent guests.
As a short-time visitor, you, too, are invited to experience the interior wealth and design of Hearst Castle. Your guide will play the role of a welcoming host and take you to different rooms on the first floor of the mansion.
Inside Hearst Castle
The Grand Rooms tour starts in a large, stylishly decorated entertaining area where Hearst’s guests would mingle before dinner. When the dinner was announced, two doors, blended with the ornamented wall, swung open. Through them, the guests walked into a large dining area with a massive table in the center.
Here Morgan implemented Hearst’s vision by adding many small windows at the top of the wall. Narrow and almost reaching the tall ceiling, the windows created a unique mood and ambience similar to those in a medieval castle.
After the dinner, the guests normally continued their engaging conversations and discussions in the smaller Billiard Room, furnished with chairs and billiard tables.
On a sunny day, an outdoor tennis court gathered the majority of the guests. Charlie Chaplin, one of Hearst’s frequent visitors, couldn’t miss a round of ball tossing every time he spent a weekend at the castle inSan Simeon.
Below the tennis court is located the lavish indoor Roman Pool. Adorned with eight Roman-style marble statues and cobalt blue and gold glass tiles (some contain 22-karat gold), it’s a true masterpiece that momentarily transports you to medieval Italy or one of the opulent riads in Morocco.
I wish we could stay here longer, absorbing the grandeur and luxury of the mansion and being inspired by the immense amount of work, dedication, and talent that had taken to build Hearst Castle. Yet our return bus is waiting right outside the Roman Pool. It’s ready to take us on the final ride before dropping us off at the visitor center where our tour started almost 1 hour and 20 minutes ago.
A Tour of Hearst Castle in Photos
