Redecorating Ideas

Last weekend David and I enjoyed a little excursion to San San Simeon to explore the Hearst Castle with Steve and Dayna Nichols. We got an early start, since we wanted have enough time to see Solvang in the afternoon. It was a little cool when we got up to enjoy breakfast by the pool, so we took advantage of the outdoor firepit along with some fellow travelers at our motel from New Zealand that were also planning a day on the "enchanted mountain". As you can see, the castle was shrouded in fog when we arrived.
David and Steve are dwarfs compared to the monster size tapestries from Mr. Hearst's collection in the visitor's center.

When we first arrived we couldn't see the coastline because of the fog, but it made the castle seem more enchanted.

Dayna and I were glad we had jackets and comfortable shoes. There are hundred of stairs everywhere.

Pictured behind David is his favorite of the Hearst collection, "The Three Graces". (naked ladies) We almost bought him a reproduction to take home, but he declined.

Many of Mr. Hearst's guests enjoyed staying here. We liked the light from the unusual windows in this circular room. Most of the castle was dark.

We love books, and my favorite place in the castle was the library. This is only his personal library. The larger one was very impressive too.

This is a view from the balcony upstairs. Imagine all that space to entertain!

And the view was spectacular.

The table settings in the dining room were very simple, with a minimum of silverware and paper napkins. Also, note the mustard and ketsup bottles. The dining room was surrounded with silver candlesticks and other artifacts.

Look up while you are eating and enjoy a feast of color!

It reminded me of jousting tournaments, and was very festive.

The castle was full of interesting ceilings like this one from a game room. The media room, where movies were shown was bigger than my whole house!

Many people like to entertain by a pool, and Mr. Hearst had two. This is the outdoor Neptune pool, which is 4 feet at the shallow end and 10 at the deep end. It was enlarged three times.

This is the indoor pool which is 10 feet deep. The small alcove under the diving platform was 4 feet deep. Since not many people knew how to swim in those days, and the pool wasn't connected to the main house, not many guests ever used it. What a waste! Over a million small tiles were used in the mosaics which also had gold plating.

Enjoy sports? This tennis court was huge and beautiful. Horse back riding and a private zoo were also offered as entertainment.