Visiting Hearst Castle is akin to a military operation. We had a tour time of 11.00, we had to be there 20 minutes before and at the shuttle gate 5 minutes before boarding. The Shuttle took us up the long winding road from the visitors centre to the castle which is built onto the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. On arrival we could see that the castle was a very large building surrounded by an Italian looking landscaped garden/grounds. Since we were on the ADA tour we were placed a board an ADA golf cart and taken unceremoniously round to the back of the building, where we had our first architectural shock. The back of the building was just bare walls. I mean bare walls. The building structure was of concrete walls, which looked like they had put up a pre-stressed framework, then shuttering and filled it in with cement, when it was cured they remove the shuttering. After that they 'adorn' the building with window frames, stucco, wooden beams, door frames, architraves, guttering and whatever to make it look as it should be on the plan. Very similar process to building a bridge, however round the back it had never been finished, so you looked at a towering concrete wall, still with the marks of the shuttering, or reinforcement wires sticking out. There were however some window in place – Gothic stone arch windows for the first three floors, with Georgian windows on the top floor. Although a fancy Italian patio door and window set had been added to one portion of the wall. It was about this time that the word 'Bizarre' popped into the mind.
Hearst Castle History and Architecture
After our visit we realized that Hearst Castle architecture was its history. It was in the process of being built and rebuilt from 1920 through until 1947 when William Randolph Hearst left the place for the last time. It was a building dreamt by Hearst as a castle that could be used for him and his friends, who were the movie and incrowd, could play. Also somewhere he could show off his enormous collection of Art work.
Now for architectural style you have to think 'concept' rather than specifics. Internally Hearst had in mind grand Gothic and Renaissance Europe, so the entrance hall was French Renaissance, although it mixed 'chateaux' with 'cathedral' style, even though the grand entrance was Greek style. The room was stuffed with treasures of French art and The Grand Dining Room was Mid European Gothic castle with Monks Stalls round the walls, the drawing room was Moorish Gothic.
However the outside is made to look like an Italian hillside, with a Moorish cathedral at its centre. It has a focal point, which is a piazza just outside the front door (you can’t get a car to it, as the piatza is up some steps). The front facade of the castle is dominated by the entrance, which is adorned by a mixture of 600 year old figures, a 400 year old Madonna and child and 300 year old stone plaques, set in cement stonework. Above is a chinese style teak roof, with the two Moorish towers on the corners. The word Bizarre came readily to mind.
It is however a total experience. Some people would say the style is eclectic, personally I think I wold call the style Macdonalds, it is the fast food of architecture – anything you want you can have, we just stick it on to the concrete walls. The gardens however were lovely, with their beautiful views down to the sea, or across to the mountains.
What a place! Like you said Sally bizarre!
ReplyDeleteStunning photos.