Hearst Castle – Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography

2025 Sunday Trees: Washingtonia Robusta

The Mexican Fan Palm is known for its slender, columnar trunk that can reach 100 feet tall and swell slightly at the base. Its trunk is brown and bumpy when young, but smooths and grays over time. It has large, fan-shaped leaves that can grow 3–5 feet wide and have sharp spines at the base.

Washingtonia robusta is one of two species in the genus Washingtonia. The other species closely related to it is the Washingtonia filifera (California Fan Palm). Both Washingtonia are grown as ornamental trees. The Mexican Washingtonia has a narrower trunk (which is typically somewhat wider at the base), and grows slightly faster and taller; it is also somewhat less cold hardy than the California fan palm, hardy to about −8 °C (18 °F).

*Aka the Mexican fan palm,*
*Mexican washingtonia, or skyduster*

The Mexican Fan Palm is normally grown in the desert areas of the Southwestern United States. Those areas include California, Arizona, and southern Nevada, as well as the extreme southwestern regions of Utah and Texas.

Both of the above locations for the Washingtonia robusta are located inland a short distance area from the Coast of the Pacific Ocean. The images were taken in Spring and Summer of 1979 by my father when we visited these places.

Sunday Trees

Throwback Thursday

Camera: Minolta XG-7 35 mm

Location: 1) Hearst Castle; San Simeon, California; 2) Ports O’ Call Village; San Pedro, California, USA

God Bless. Have a marvelous week. Explore Your World. Enjoy Nature. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 Thursday Doors: 06.27

Doors of Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada (Spanish for “The Enchanted Hill”), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California.

Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his architect Julia Morgan, the castle was built between 1919 and 1947.

Currently, Hearst Castle is a museum open to the public as a California State Park and registered as a National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark.

Interestingly, Hearst, his castle and his lifestyle were satirized by Orson Welles in his 1941 film Citizen Kane. Hearst sought to suppress this film and Welles’ allusions to his art collections ( paintings, statues, pictures, etc) and his references to acquiring so many acquisitions to equal enough for ten museums being the loot of the world.

***Casa Grande, inspired by the Church of Santa María la Mayor, Ronda, Spain, forms the centerpiece of Hearst’s estate.***

Dan’s Thursday Doors

Throwback Thursday

Camera: Minolta XG-7 35 mm

Location: Hearst Castle; San Simeon, California, USA

God Bless. Thank you for visiting Hearst Castle with us. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 Judy’s Number Game #27 – 148

A Scattering of Pix

from Here to There

From Here —- Road Work in the Neighbourhood …

***Roadwork;***
***Huntingtowne Neighbourhood;***
***Gastonia, North Carolina***

Taking a Break … Maneuvering around the Roadwork …

***Coleman***
***Huntingtowne Neighbourhood;***
***Gastonia, North Carolina***

From Over Yonder … Looking Over the Geological Layers of the Grand Canyon …

Moving Further Westward … Wishing we could Cool off in this Magnificent Historical Pool …

***Hearst Castle Pool***
***San Simeon, California***

Deciding that won’t be allowed … Returning to our own Carolinas … to be Refreshed in the Catawba River …

***Catawba River;***
***Piedmont Medical Center Trail;***
***Rock Hill, South Carolina***

Back Here … Thinking of Family.

***Aunt Vermel (Waters) & Uncle Fred Hunter; Springs Park;***
***Lancaster, South Carolina***

Judy’s Numbers Game #27-148

Throwback Thursday

God Bless. Thank you for Scattering the Pix with us. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

Hearst Castle’s Magnificent Sculptures and Art

CosPhoChal

Art for Art’s Sake

For this CosPhoChal, Dale has challenged us to post photos depicting Art for Art’s Sake. I chose to continue on our tour of Hearst Castle by allowing you to see some of the art and sculptures we saw when we were there that day. I formatted the pictures into a slideshow, while I was blogging on this post, for enhanced view and entertainment. Relax and enjoy the show.

Cosmic Photo Challenge-Art for Art’s Sake

Debbie’s Six Word Saturday

RDP Friday! Sculpture!

RDP Tuesday!-Blogging!

Throwback Thursday

Camera: Minolta XG-7 35mm

Location: Hearst Castle; Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument; San Simeon, California, USA

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and watching our slideshow. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts about my blogging posts. I appreciate y’all very much.

Numbers Game #26 – My 147 & the Word Hearst

Hearst Castle

and Ranch

Judy’s Numbers Game can bring about interesting results and insights from those who choose to participate. The challenge is alive, let’s get Blogging. In searching for the #147 and its variations the results that popped up all had the central focus around Hearst. Therefore, I selected a variety of photos around the Word Hearst and Hearst Castle.

As we approach Hearst Castle we see the sign informing us we are arriving at our desired destination.

Hearst San Simeon
State Historical Monument

The long and winding road up to the top where Hearst Castle is located.

Touring the outside grounds at Hearst San Simeon we see statues poolside …

And by the stairs leading upward …

Continuing our tour of the grounds we come upon the Hearst Ranch. William Randolph Hearst kept Fifty (50) species of herbivores on his ranch. They included around 126 Zebras plus bison, fallow deer, antelope, zebras, elk, camels, kangaroos, and giraffes.

We also could see the vastness of the Hearst Ranch where the numerous animals grazed.

At last we come to the end of today’s tour as more about Hearst Castle will come in a later post.

Judy’s Numbers Game #26-Number 147

RDP Tuesday!-Blogging!

Throwback Thursday

Camera: Minolta XG-7 35 mm

Location: Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument; San Simeon, California, USA

God Bless. Thank you for tagging along on our tour. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. Have a wonderful week. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 PULL Up a Seat: Week 24

Seating inside Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle is located up on a hill in San Simeon, the land was originally purchased by George Hearst. After his & his wife’s passing, the ownership of the property was transferred to William Randolph Hearst, their son.

William Randolph Hearst expanded on the property growing it to encompass approximately 250,00 acres. In 1919, Hearst collaborated with San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to build what would later become one of the world’s greatest showplaces and later an accredited museum.

The site originally known as “Camp Hill” was renamed “La Cuesta Encantada” which is Spanish for The Enchanted Hill.

After the passing of William Randolph Hearst, the estate opened its doors to the public in 1958. Hearst Castle comprising 90,000 square feet and Hearst’s world-class art collection. The property includes its own theater, billiard room, beauty salon and pair of dazzling swimming pools.

Among the rooms you can view while touring the Castle are:

Grand Social Rooms of Casa Grande —the largest house at Hearst Castle.
Assembly Room — located on the ground floor.
Refectory — where Hearst hosted lavish dinner parties and social occasions.
Billiard Room — where guests could relax and play billiards and pool.
Theatre — Hearst joined his guests here to watch movies and newsreels.
Doge’s Suite — here guests can admire the magnificent painted antique ceiling, marble balcony and Mountain View’s.
Main Library — It has an impressive collection containing more than 4,000 books.
Gothic Suite — located on the third floor it contains Hearst’s most treasured collections and sacred objects.

There are many more areas and rooms you may tour at Hearst Castle. The sculptures and architecture are amazing to see. As you can see, the various rooms have a variety of seating selections; each selection was once used by the vast number of guests visiting the property.

When touring the Castle ( depending on your choice of tour) you may learn about the paintings, sculptures, antiquities, tapestries and other works that comprise Hearst’s collection.

The Enchanted Hill doubled as a museum, bringing together centuries-old masterpieces in one stunning setting. These historic objects can still be viewed today among Hearst’s gardens, guest houses and Casa Grande.

Even though you can view and admire the numerous spacious rooms and seating arrangements around Hearst Castle, they are only for admiration and not for tourists to currently use.

Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge 2024-Week 24

Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC) – Roomy

Throwback Thursday

Camera: Minolta XG-7 35 mm

Location: Hearst Castle; San Simeon, California, USA

God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.