Discover two very different parts of this fascinating historic California attraction: tour some of the most personal rooms of the property and some of its most practical ones. View Mr. Hearst’s extensive wine cellar in the basement of the main house. Stroll through the historic gardens to the first building completed on the hilltop, the elegant guest cottage known as House B. Then compare its rooms to those in House A, the Hearst family’s private cottage, which always held a special place in W. R. Hearst’s heart. Conclude your tour of this impressive California attraction by visiting the Castle’s enormous kitchen to appreciate the complexities of entertaining visitors on a grand scale. Then tour the gardens and the property’s swimming pools at your leisure, enjoying the scenery offered by this grand California attraction that you have been glimpsing through the cottage windows.
Wine Cellar
Mr. Hearst loved good food and good wine, as the nearly three thousand bottles remaining in this wine cellar attest. He drank hard liquor very seldom, but always served wine at dinner for guests visiting the mansion and estate. He preferred as well that his vacationing guests should not overindulge, and many of them recalled that alcohol was served in only limited amounts at the ranch. The quantity may have been small, but the quality of Mr. Hearst’s wine and spirits was always excellent.
House B
As the first building completed on the hilltop site, this cottage was the Hearst family’s earliest residence in the summer of 1922. Though usually referred to by the simple “House B,” its formal name was Casa del Monte (House of the Mountains). This justly honors the wide vistas of the Santa Lucia Coast Mountains seen from its north-facing windows. In later years, this stately cottage was used by many of Mr. Hearst’s vacationing guests. It contains the so-called “Cardinal Richelieu bed” of ornately carved walnut—and many guests requested the privilege of sleeping in it.
House A
At double the size of House B, House A was the next Hearst family residence. They moved in to Casa del Mar (House of the Sea) in 1924. It overlooks California Central Coast ocean views to the south that stretch one hundred miles on clear days. The most formal and most elaborately decorated of the cottages, House A features a different gold-leafed plaster ceiling in every room. Mr. Hearst moved to the main building in 1928, but House A still remained dear to him. At age eighty-two in the late 1940s, he returned to this site to live for his last two years on the hilltop–before retiring to Beverly Hills, CA., where he died in 1951.
The Kitchen
View the large kitchen where all meals were prepared for Mr. Hearst and his vacationing guests. Its long pantry holds silver and nickel-topped tables where food could be kept warm before being wheeled into the Refectory. The kitchen itself is full of practical devices, including stock pots, pressure cookers, bread ovens, huge mixers, and early refrigerators. Beef, poultry, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products were all raised at the ranch. The fare was fresh and delicious, and there was always at least one dessert—often two—because Mr. Hearst loved cakes, cookies, pies, and ice cream.
Tour Requirement
Consists of approximately 176 stairs (up and down) and 3/4 mile route to walk. Duration is 45 minutes with a considerable amount of standing.
