Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument Travel Page by Kaylin

If you're taking a road trip through California or visiting California, this is one stop you don't want to miss. It'll be an experience you would never forget.

We went on the first tour thinking that it was the only one. There are actually 4 tours that enable you see different aspects/parts of the Hearst Estate. For newcomers like myself, I would recommend the first one. It is an introductory tour that includes a 1 hour presentation in the theater about its history. Each tour are pretty pricey so I would not recommend taking all four tours in one day.

The facade of Casa Grande resembles a cathedral primarily because of its twin towers, which were inspired by the Santa Maria la Mayor cathedral in Ronda, Spain.

The present Neptune Pool is the last of 3 different swimming pools built on this site between 1924 and 1936. The pool and colonnades are decorated with light, veined and verde antique marble. In the mid 1930's the Roman temple facade and the colonnades were erected and the Birth of Venus statuary group was installed in its present position.

The Neptune Poolis dominated by an ancient Greco-Roman Temple facade andmodern colonnades. The temple columns, capitals and parts of the entablature are from the Imperial Roman period of the 1st to the 4th Century A.D.

This swimming pool is named for Neptune, the Romangod of the sea. Neptune, who stands in the pediment of this classical temple facade, usually holds a "trident" in his right hand.

The foundation for Casa del Sol, C House was underway along with those of A and B Houses by February of 1920. The architecture motif (Southern Spain) for all three guest houses was planned to be similar, with C House, having a more definite Moorish treatment.