Discover two very different parts of Hearst Castle on the Cottages & Kitchen Tour: the most personal rooms of the property, in addition to its most practical. View Hearst’s extensive wine cellar. Stroll through the historic gardens to House B (Casa del Monte). Then compare its rooms to those in House A (Casa del Mar), before visiting the Castle’s enormous kitchen.
Although William Randolph Hearst was a moderate drinker, he was a passionate connoisseur of fine wine, serving nothing but the best for his esteemed Hollywood guests. Descend the spiral staircase to his grandiose underground wine cellar to see where he kept his massive collection of wine and spirits—even during the prohibition era.
Walk through the first building ever completed at La Cuesta Encantada, which served as the Hearst family’s earliest residence in the summer of 1922. Referred to as “House B,” its formal name was Casa del Monte—Spanish for “House of the Mountains”—because of the sweeping views of the Santa Lucia Mountains.
Referred to as “House A,” its formal name is Casa del Mar—Spanish for “House of the Sea”—and it served as the next Hearst family residence in 1924. Stroll through the quaint cottage overlooking the California Central Coast to see where Mr. Hearst lived for the last two years of his life at this hilltop estate.
Explore the enormous kitchen where all meals were prepared for Mr. Hearst and his vacationing guests. The kitchen itself is full of practical devices—including stock pots, industrial-sized mixers, and early refrigerators—which stand today just as they did decades ago.
Once the guided portion of the tour concludes, explore the expansive garden grounds that surround “La Cuesta Encantada”—Hearst’s Spanish name for The Enchanted Hill. Look for native plants, rare flowers and lush foliage that have been at the Castle since Mr. Hearst resided here.
Continue the tour at your own pace to the dramatic and impressive Neptune Pool, and be sure to walk around the colonnades and Cassou statutes that provided the setting for lavish pool parties and lively social gatherings.
Located immediately before you board the bus back to the Visitor Center, the intensely detailed, indoor Roman Pool is the perfect place to stop and reflect. Modeled after ancient Roman baths, this meticulously detailed, majestic pool is tiled from ceiling to floor, and features eight statues of Roman gods, goddesses and heroes.
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