A Brief History of the Hearst Castle and Architect Julia Morgan
On the California coast, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, high up on the hill, sits a true masterpiece of California architecture, the Hearst Castle. This iconic work of architecture was brought to fruition through Julia Morgan, an unassuming yet fervently determined architect, and William Randolph Hearst, a wealthy media tycoon who shared Morgan’s passion and interest in art and architecture. Through the collaboration of these two individuals, the Hearst Castle emerged out of the hill and would become a landmark for California’s history and culture of the 20th century.
The history behind the castle is fascinating, and my experience visiting the building was unforgettable. From the ornate detailing of the interior spaces to the landscaping, pools, and art displays, the Hearst Castle is a total work of architecture.
Julia Morgan, The Architect of the Hearst Castle
In 1890 Julia Morgan was pursuing her degree at the University of California Berkley. Women attending University at this time in history was very rare, not to mention enrolling in the College of Engineering. Bernard Maybeck, famed American Arts and Crafts Architect, was her professor and offered evening classes in Architectural design as the College of Engineering did not offer Architectural classes at the time. Maybeck encouraged her to attend these classes as he must have noticed her natural ability as a drafter and design sense.
Julia Morgan would graduate from the College of Engineering in 1894, becoming the first woman graduate of the University. This was a massive accomplishment for the time but would only be the first of many achievements for the young woman.
Julia Morgan Attends the Ecole des Beaux Arts
At the time, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris was the premier architectural university to attend. After encouragement from Maybeck, Julia Morgan applied to take the entrance exam into the university. On the second attempt, she passed and was admitted to the Beaux-Arts. She would be the first woman to attend the school.
Bernard Maybeck would introduce Julia Morgan to Phoebe Hearst, mother of William Randolph Hearst. Upon hearing that Morgan was admitted to the Beaux-Arts, Phoebe Hearst offered to pay for her tuition. The Hearst family had built excessive wealth from the mining business, and Phoebe was impressed by her determination and accomplishments of Morgan. However, Morgan gracefully declined the offering. After six years in Paris and struggling to obtain a diploma at the Beaux Arts, Julia Morgan finally returned home to California.
Julia Morgan Starts Her Practice
Upon returning to the United States, she would gain employment with John Galen Howard, who was working on projects for the Hearst family at the time. In 1904, after two years of working in Howard’s office, she gained certification as a licensed California Architect and set out to start her own architectural office. Over the next few years, Morgan would be granted several small commissions from the Hearst family.
Julia Morgan would build one of the most desirable and prestigious offices in San Francisco. Her office was lined with bookshelves holding an estimated 500 books about architecture, design, and landscape. She would post architectural photographs she had taken each week on a large bulletin in the office and ask that her staff stay updated with her latest imagery. Many of her associates and employees commented on her relentless work schedule. She was a pure workaholic and often expected her employees to perform the same way. Despite this approach, she was motivated not by money but by her love and passion for architecture.
In her office, her apprentices received thorough formal training. After going through Morgan’s office, one could generally gain employment at any other San Francisco office. The education and development of apprentices was essential for Morgan. For instance, she once bought tickets for her entire drafting team to attend the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. She encouraged them to make sketches of the different exhibits and buildings that interested them.
She also implemented a profit-sharing plan in her office, a practice that was uncommon for the time. This structure helped keep employees retained and motivated. The Morgan Atelier remained open for nearly forty-seven years and worked on between seven and eight hundred projects. The most notable of these is Hearst Castle.
Morgan Meets William Randolph Hearst, and Planning Begins
Julia Morgan first met William Randolph Hearst while renovating a hunting lodge near Pleasanton just south of Oakland commissioned by Phoebe Hearst, William’s mother. Morgan developed an affection and admiration for Phoebe Hearst. In 1919 Phoebe Hearst passed away. This was a difficult loss for Morgan as she was losing a stable client and a valued friend and supporter. Following the death of Phoebe, Morgan began to develop a relationship with her son. This was the beginning of a long-lasting friendship and business relationship centered around a mutual love and appreciation for architecture and art.
Only about a month after his mother’s death, William Randolph Hearst would pay a visit to Morgan’s office in San Francisco to discuss his interest in building a home at “the Ranch” in San Simeon. He mentioned that he was tired of camping on this hill and wanted a more permanent residence. Planning for Hearst Castle began in 1919. An employee of Morgan’s recalls hearing a discussion between Hearst and Morgan, where Hearst expressed his interest in “keeping it simple - a sort of Jappo Swisso bungalow.” (Bruce, 39) That request didn’t age well, and history would have other plans for the development.
At the time, Hearst was still living in New York, which meant that correspondence between him and Morgan was primarily through telegram. Many of these letters were saved and provide great detail on the design process and relationship dynamics between Hearst and Morgan.
The Architectural Style of Hearst Castle
Like many architects of that day, Julia Morgan was capable of practicing in a variety of stylistic motifs. However, she would always improvise on a prescribed design aesthetic, modifying and tweaking it until it was uniquely hers. Innovation, for its own sake, did not interest Julia Morgan. She often began her projects from a prescribed set of traditional designs, slowly molding the architecture to meet the site’s unique needs, client, and problem at hand.
One of the most significant decisions to make was the style that Casa Grande would assume. As the story goes, Hearst would throw out many different ideas for the style of the building, one of which was a Renaissance style. Due to the location and history of the site, Morgan would suggest a more vernacular architecture, one which aligned more with the San Diego New World Spanish Colonial style. She believed this style would be more culturally appropriate for the region and historically rooted in California culture. Eventually, Hearst would agree, and they would proceed via Morgan’s recommendation.
One of the most defining architectural features of Casa Grande is the two towers. Hearst was incredibly fond of the church at Ronda in southern Spain. After reviewing photographs and drawings of the church together, it was decided that two similar towers would be built on Casa Grande. The resemblance between the two structures is striking.
The Hill and Construction
The location where William Hearst would build his masterpiece was on a hill called camp hill on the Piedra Blanca Ranch. He would later rename the hill La Cuesta Encantada or the Enchanted Hill. The site is located roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. At the time, this was an incredibly isolated portion of the California coast. The Ranch had been in his family and was used for family camping trips and picnics. The trips would include family and friends, often amounting to 50 people. They would erect tents, small kitchens, servant facilities, and restrooms for the events. The family and guests would typically travel to the site via railway, from the nearest station being roughly 40 miles from the site. Once they arrived by rail, they often took private cars on a dirt road up to the top of the hill.
During construction, building supplies were usually shipped in and unloaded on the pier in San Simeon. From the base of the hill, it was a rough 6-mile journey up to the top. The project’s construction would employ hundreds of San Luis Obispo County residents. Much of the building took place during the Great Depression, which provided a lifeline for the town’s survival.
Typically, there would be 80 to 90 men on site working on the project. The crew would fluctuate based on seasons and the financial situation of Hearst. The property was constructed without the advantage of modern machinery or tools. For example, most of the concrete on site was hand mixed and manually poured, which is mind-boggling if you have ever hand mixed and poured concrete.
Julia Morgan, the Master Builder
During the construction, the project was under Julia Morgan's and her staff's supervision. She truly embodied the master builder position on the project serving as both the Architect and Contractor for the job. On a typical construction day, there would be a superintendent on site, accompanied by a project manager. Julia Morgan would come down periodically to the job site, usually at least once every other week. Morgan’s office had a full-time bookkeeping staff keeping track of invoices, billing, and building expenses.
Morgan would typically take the evening train leaving San Francisco at 8:00 pm and arriving in San Simeon at 2:00 am. It was common for her to take her portable drafting board on the train and work throughout the trip. Upon arrival in San Simeon, Hearst’s driver would pick her up and drive the 40 miles to the property, arriving early in the morning to begin work.
It is easy to imagine that this routine became arduous and taxing on Julia Morgan. Not to mention dealing with Hearst, whose personality could be challenging. It is recorded that Julia Morgan attempted to withdraw from the project on multiple occasions because of Hearst’s quirks, impatience, tendency to make substantial changes and procrastination in making payments. In personal correspondence, she suggested to Hearst that he find another Architect to replace her so she could withdraw from the project.
The Site Plan
The site plan of the development is reminiscent of an old Mediterranean town. It was typical for these small towns to have a primary structure, a central public open space surrounded by smaller ancillary buildings. Below is a site plan of the entire development showing the orientation of the primary house, Casa Grande, with the small guest houses, Casa del Mar, Casa del Monte, and Casa del Sol, arranged around the site. Each guest house was named based on the view from the main living spaces.
The hill underwent significant modifications and terracing to integrate the buildings into the site. Varying sets of informal and formal stair arrangements interconnect five terraced levels. A series of paths and well-manicured landscaping connects the different areas on site.
Construction on all of the guest houses began at roughly the same time. Casa del Mar was the largest of the guest houses at 8,104 square feet, containing 14 rooms. Casa del Monte, at 3,608 square feet, is the smallest of the guest houses. Casa del Sol is easily the most architecturally adorned of the guest houses, with ornate and expensive detailing. It totals 6,584 square feet with 18 rooms on three levels.
Casa Grande
Work on the primary building, Casa Grande, began in 1920. It totals roughly 73,500 square feet and holds 100 rooms, 37 of which are bedrooms, 12 servant rooms, 41 bathrooms, and 14 sitting rooms. The first floor of Casa Grande has mainly public spaces. There is a central morning room, billiards room, theater large refectory, and assembly room on the first floor. The mezzanine level, second, third, and fourth floors contain more private spaces primarily comprised of bedrooms. Hearst’s main library is on the second floor, flanked on either side by two alcoves, all with balconies off the western side. The library is one of the most impressive sections of the home, filled with ancient Greek vases, Hearst’s private book collection, and a highly detailed Spanish-Moorish coffered ceiling design. On the third floor was Hearst’s private study, which occupies the rear half of the floor.
One characteristic of Casa Grande that architectural historians have found peculiar was the lack of a central processional stair system or primary vertical circulation in the house. The stairs in the home are nearly hidden, and you must know where they are located to use them. Was this done intentionally to provide Hearst additional privacy and security in the bedrooms suits and his private suite on the upper levels?
Financial Troubles for Hearst
Around 1937, Hearst would be confronted with severe financial problems. He had taken his family’s fortune and sent it into financial turmoil, accumulating massive debt from his often compulsive and frivolous spending habits. He would be forced to give up movie productions, sell a sizable portion of his real estate, and auction off much of his private art collection. From 1937 to 1942, he would unload assets to pay off his debts. Construction on the Hearst Castle was ordered to stop during this time.
Fortunately, World War II would end the Great Depression and raise interest in news and current events. This would boost his newspapers’ circulation drastically, helping him pay off his debts. Around 1945, Hearst would resume construction on the project as soon as profits began to flow.
Finishing the Hearst Castle
At that time, Julia Morgan was 72 years old and was not fully capable of reassuming the taxing task of travel and keeping up with Hearst. She would assign the project to an architect in her office named Warren McClure. Morgan would retire from the field of architecture in 1948 and close her practice. Upon retirement, she would fulfill her other passion of travel. Throughout her retirement and while abroad, she would maintain correspondence with Hearst, sending him notes and sketches of her travels.
At the time Warren McClure took over the project, Casa Grande was generally completed except for the interiors of the new wing. McClure worked with Hearst to finish the new wing’s second, third, and fourth floors. McClure’s work is somewhat easily distinguishable from the rest of the building. With the advent of modernism and a general shift in architectural and design approaches, McClure suggested a more paired back and restrained aesthetic approach to the interiors. This may have also resulted from the tightened financial constraints that Hearst’s sons enforced over the building to ensure their father did not spiral into another spending frenzy.
Criticism of the Hearst Castle
If one is to be critical of Julia Morgan’s masterpiece, it would be in alignment with what many modern architects of the time were saying about the Beaux Arts tradition. Their general argument was that architecture was becoming overly referential and prescriptive based on arbitrary historical rules. Many began to question this approach’s validity and ask why? They began to reject the concept of architecture as a collage of historical details and ornamentation. Why does architecture need to reference forms and details from hundreds of years ago to make it acceptable? Can architecture not break away from the past?
When studying the Hearst Castle closely, the argument could be made that it is a collage of architectural components taken from different historical periods and assembled in a composition. For example, there are a wide variety of antique windows on the new wing’s south elevation. Some being Italian Gothic, some Venetian, and several other styles. Each room took on a different stylistic motif referring to various historical movements. Although possibly a request from Hearst, as he was an avid collector, it could be argued that this compromises the architectural integrity of the building and makes it more of a collage rather than a cohesive work of unified architecture.
The Hearst Castle Today
Today the Hearst Castle is open for tours to the public. They offer various tours, including Grand Rooms Tour, Upstairs Suites Tour, Cottages and Kitchen Tour, Designing the Dream Tour, Art of San Simeon Tour, Hearst, and Hollywood Tour, Julia Morgan Tour, Evening Tour, Holiday Twilight Tour, and Accessibility Designed Tours. Hours for the different tours vary based on the seasons and tour types. Reservations are recommended and can be made 60 days in advance. There is a Hearst Castle Visitors Center where you can eat and shop; several hotels are nearby. We suggest you research the Hearst Castle website for more information. Hearst Castle Website
We hope you enjoyed the article and have the opportunity to visit one of California’s architectural masterpieces. Please get in touch with us if you notice any errors or inconsistencies in the article. We try to provide the most accurate information possible.
“Nothing bothered her, she was fearless. She had a strain of steel in her I have never found in any other human being. ”
References:
Morgan, Julia, and Sara Holmes Boutelle. Julia Morgan, Architect. Abbeville Press Publ., 1995.
Aidala, Thomas, and Curt Bruce. Hearst Castle, San Simeon. Harrison House, 1984.
