After the long day on a road full of switchbacks we finally made it to our destination. N was very happy to be out of the truck and was glad to get some hugs from daddy.
We bought some tickets to tour one, there are five different standard tours everyday (and some special ones added occasionally), and found out we just got there in time for the last group out.
We loaded up on the bus that took us from the visitor center up to the top of the hill were the main complex was built.
This is about half way up, view of the visitor center and view of the main complex on top of the hill.
You can sorta see the switch back of a road we went on. If you were really a visitor of the Hearst family you would travel these same roads, but would be greeted by his exotic animal collection. Today they still have a variety of animals on the property. We managed to see the Zebras, cows and deer. He originally also had camels, deer from Europe and Africa, Kangaroos, Emus, and a variety of Sheep. They would feed the animals next to the road so visitors would see them, otherwise they would be anywhere on the 270,000 acres that the ranch once was. They also had a caged section for a variety of bears, tigers, lions, monkeys and much much more.
The main complex also housed beautiful artwork and gardens throughout.
N taking in the view from one of the many terraces.
The property was originally just a ranch of 48,000 acres that was purchased in 1865 with funds gained from mining. After the senior Hearst passed on his son, William, decided to start building, but had to wait another couple of years before doing so do to his his mothers desire not to overbuild. The architect, Julia Morgan, was one of the first female to graduate from UofC-Berkley and then waited 2 years in Paris before being allowed to study in Paris.
The Neptune Pool, with marble statues and columns was a beautiful sight. The worker even told us that workers are allowed to swim in it during the summer months for parties....as long as they don't touch any of the marble and only use the new plastic steps :)
Details on even the guest houses were elaborate and were inlaid with gold.
J tried to count all of the lions depicted on the property, but lost track pretty quickly.
Beautiful detail over the door.
Inside one of the guest houses, this one had 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and was just over 2,000 square feet...just a little guesthouse compared to the 3 houses on this part of the property.
An Egyptian Sarcophagus, he bought many relics from other countries before there were laws against it. He wanted his estate to be a living museum were anyone could come and see things from all over the world. These pieces were anything from little statues, doors/gates, to whole archways installed inside the "big" house called Casa Grande. Casa Grande at 60,645 square feet is the main house.
The main sitting room in Casa Grande, the fireplace was HUGE and the walls were paneled in benches from some monasteries.
This is the dining room, again HUGE...some of the rooms are bigger then houses...just amazing! Interesting artifacts are all over the house as well.
The indoor Olympic pool...again just spectacular! The yellowish/gold...again real gold tiles mixed in with Venetian glass tiles and highlighted with alabaster lights and marble statues....you know what everyone has. The guide told us that this pool wasn't used much, since it wasn't attached to the house itself, but was constructed under the double tennis courts just off the house.
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