Off we head down the Pacific Coast Highway with the RV - are we crazy or what? We wanted to take the scenic route as we headed south to San Simeo and Hearst Castle. The drive was a little curvy at times but the views were spectacular.
Our friends Mike and Kathy joined us for this short excursion. Great friends make the trip even better.
This Mediterranean style estate was the retreat of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon. Designed by architect Julia Morgan, this skimpy summer home is located on the 250,000 acre Hearst ranch, half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Much of the architecture is influenced by Renaissance and Baroque art.
Hearst Castle features 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theatre, an airstrip, and the worlds largest private zoo. But then again it is just a second home. The Neptune Pool features an ancient Roman temple front (the real thing, not a copy...)
The views from the gardens are spectacular overlooking the 14 miles of coastline once owned by the Hearsts. The Hearst Corporation donated the property, including the extensive art and antique collection, to the state of California in 1957 and it has been maintained as a state historic park ever since. One condition of the donation was that the Hearst family could use the facility any time they wished. The family continues to use an older Victorian house on the estate as a retreat.
The main building towers were designed after a Spanish church. Hearst was an omnivorous buyer who did not so much buy art and antiques to furnish his new house as build the home to house his huge art collection. 
A rare clear view if the bottom of the indoor pool. The water had been drained to allow renovation of the tile work.
Our friends Mike and Kathy joined us for this short excursion. Great friends make the trip even better.
This Mediterranean style estate was the retreat of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon. Designed by architect Julia Morgan, this skimpy summer home is located on the 250,000 acre Hearst ranch, half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Much of the architecture is influenced by Renaissance and Baroque art.
Hearst Castle features 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theatre, an airstrip, and the worlds largest private zoo. But then again it is just a second home. The Neptune Pool features an ancient Roman temple front (the real thing, not a copy...)
The views from the gardens are spectacular overlooking the 14 miles of coastline once owned by the Hearsts. The Hearst Corporation donated the property, including the extensive art and antique collection, to the state of California in 1957 and it has been maintained as a state historic park ever since. One condition of the donation was that the Hearst family could use the facility any time they wished. The family continues to use an older Victorian house on the estate as a retreat.
The main building towers were designed after a Spanish church. Hearst was an omnivorous buyer who did not so much buy art and antiques to furnish his new house as build the home to house his huge art collection. 
A rare clear view if the bottom of the indoor pool. The water had been drained to allow renovation of the tile work.
