With Hearst Castle's long closure, the Central Coast town of San Simeon is struggling

[Demovictory9]

With Hearst Castle’s long closure, the Central Coast town of San Simeon is strugglingIt's just before noon in the middle of the week at the Big Sur Restaurant in San Simeon. Owner Maura Valencia is standing across an empty lunch counter from me as I ask her the obvious question, the one she probably doesn't want to hear, "Where is everyone?"

She makes a sweeping gesture with her arms around the cozy, but empty, cafe and then gives me a smile and a shrug. "What do you see?" she says. "Where are they? You tell me."

San Simeon is a town of 658 residents, located along California's oceanfront state Route 1. It's the exact midway point on the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco — approximately 240 miles away from the state's two most populous metropolitan areas.

https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/Hearst-Castle-closure-hurts-San-Simeon-16947346.php

Driving through, it's a get-distracted-and-you’ll-miss-it-entirely single row of hotels, motels, restaurants and a liquor store. The local economy is reliant upon Hearst San Simeon State Park and Hearst Castle, which has been closed by California State Parks since March 2020 — first for COVID and then for road work.

[NNadir]

1. My wife and I toured Hearst Castle when we were young.

We really couldn't believe how garish and tacky it was.

He was, from what I remember of the place, the Donald Trump of his times.

[Demovictory9]

2. I last toured it about 15 years ago. it was both tacky and beautiful. designed by a woman architect

grounds were beautiful

[NNadir]

3. The California coast in that area is beautiful, but what I remember of the "Castle" was art work...

...appropriated in what had to be dubious circumstances displayed in a haphazard arrangement that could have the effect of making what may have been a magnificent piece into looking like a piece of junk displayed on a fold up table at an estate sale after the passing, in clutter, of a sadly isolated dementia patient in a dying city in New Jersey.

(I live in New Jersey now.)

Of course, it's probably more than 30 years since I went there, but I remember my wife and I shaking our heads that we'd spent an otherwise beautiful day, and some quantity of money, on that tour. But yes, the grounds, at least the part not involved with the castle itself, were beautiful.

I do remember the tour guide asking the group about what they knew of William Randolph Hearst and grimacing my response about Hearst inciting with yellow journalism an American Colonial War.

Rosebud, I guess...


Were I to pass again through San Simeon - which is unlikely - I'd keep going until I got to Big Sur. I must have drove past the Castle 50 times before, out of curiosity, I checked the Castle out with my wife.

We were not amused.

[Zorro]

4. One interesting sidetrip in the general area

is an overnight stopover at the Hearst Hacienda in Monterey County. It was Hearst's getaway ranch house (now located on the grounds of Fort Hunter Liggett) and was likewise designed by Julia Hunt Morgan, the architect of the Hearst Castle. It can be reached by a winding road off Highway 1 south of Big Sur, or off the 101 from the west.

Accommodations are rather spartan but comfortable, and one needs to be prepared to bring along something to eat for the duration. The external architecture is impressive although the rooms less so, but the surrounding countryside is a great place for hiking. It's adjacent to Mission San Antonio, one of the original missions founded by Junipero Serra.

Perhaps because of its isolation I've not had problems making a reservation there (although getting through can be a challenge), and room prices have always been extremely reasonable. It's a nice experience to relax at the "residence" of some former luminary and enjoy the solitude of the surroundings, just as Hearst and his guests did decades ago.

Regarding the actual Hearst Castle itself, what I found most interesting was the size of the bedrooms in the main house; both WRH and Marion Davies' bedrooms were relatively small, especially when compared to contemporary bedrooms (didn't check out the rooms in the other homes, ticket prices are pretty expensive). The indoor and outdoor pool areas were pretty cool, though.