Credit: Abbie Warnock-Matthews via Shutterstock.
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Castles in the United States are a rare sight and on the West Coast, you can practically count them on one hand. Despite their scarcity, the largest and most legendary stands in California, a monument not just to wealth but to ambition and show business.
Hearst Castle sprawls across 250,000 acres and boasts 165 rooms, including 56 bedrooms and 61 bathrooms, plus 19 sitting rooms. Its grounds feature multiple pools and terraces. From elaborate guest quarters to vast assembly halls, the estate’s scale and amenities make it one of the most extravagant private residences ever built in the U.S.
The making of an architectural gem
William Randolph Hearst inherited vast lands in San Simeon after his mother’s death in 1919, consolidating a property that included over 250,000 acres and 14 miles of coastline. His interest in art and culture grew during European travels with his mother, laying the groundwork for his later extensive collections.
After inheriting the estate, Hearst began an ambitious project at San Simeon with architect Julia Morgan, starting a close collaboration that lasted nearly three decades, as The Foundation at Hearst Castle explains. During this period, the castle became his main residence and a hub for political and cultural elites.
A playground for the powerful elite
Between 1925 and 1938, Hearst Castle became a magnet for the big players both in the political arena and in the film industry. With Marion Davies acting as the chatelaine, the castle regularly hosted luminaries like Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Winston Churchill, and Calvin Coolidge, according to Vintage News.
The lifestyle here was so lavish that guests arrived via private train or Hearst’s airstrip, while the daily life at the castle blended leisure and spectacle: horseback riding, swimming, golf, and croquet kept guests entertained until the strict ritual of Saturday cocktails, followed by elaborate dinners featuring wines from Hearst’s 7,000-bottle cellar.
The castle served as a social theater, hosting landmark events such as high-profile weddings and diplomatic visits, cementing San Simeon as both a cultural and social powerhouse.
Hearst castle and pop-culture
Hearst Castle has long captured the imagination of filmmakers and musicians, becoming a symbol of Hollywood glamour and luxury. Its most famous modern appearance is in Lady Gaga’s 2014 music video “G.U.Y.,” where she and her dancers perform across the Neptune Pool, Roman Pool, and grand terraces. The video marked the first commercial filming at the estate in decades, highlighting the castle’s cinematic appeal and dramatic architecture.
Beyond Lady Gaga, Hearst Castle famously served as a reference and inspiration for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. Its lavish interiors, sprawling grounds, and aura of opulence shaped the depiction of Kane’s Xanadu, reinforcing the castle’s association with wealth, power, and elite lifestyles in both cinema and cultural imagination.