Neptune Pool

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. Today, 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. George Hearst, William Randolph Hearst's father, had purchased the original 40,000-acre (63 sq mi) estate in 1865 and Camp Hill, the site for the future Hearst Castle, was used for family camping vacations during Hearst's youth. Soon after the death of his mother, Phoebe Hearst, in 1919, William Randolph commissioned the architectural pioneer Julia Morgan to build "something a little more comfortable up on the hill", the genesis of the present castle. She worked in close collaboration with Hearst for over twenty years; the castle was under almost continual construction from 1920 until 1939, with work resuming after the end of World War II until Hearst's final departure in 1947. Originally intended to be a family home for Hearst, his wife Millicent and their five sons, by 1925 Hearst's marriage was effectively over and San Simeon became the home of him and his mistress, the actress Marion Davies. Their guest list included many of the Hollywood stars of the Roaring Twenties; Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable all visited, some on multiple occasions. Political luminaries encompassed Calvin Coolidge and Winston Churchill while other notables included Charles Lindbergh, P. G. Wodehouse and Bernard Shaw. Shortly after starting San Simeon, Hearst—who had a passion for collecting so strong he was dubbed the "Great Accumulator"—began to conceive of making the castle "a museum of the best things that I can secure". Foremost among his purchases were architectural elements from Western Europe, particularly Spain; over thirty ceilings, doorcases, fireplaces and mantels, entire monasteries, paneling and a medieval tithe barn were purchased, shipped to Hearst's Brooklyn warehouses and transported on to California. Much was then incorporated into the fabric of Hearst Castle. In addition, he built up collections of more conventional art and antiques of high quality; his assemblage of ancient Greek vases was one of the world's largest. The castle and Hearst's lifestyle was satirized by Orson Welles in his 1941 film Citizen Kane, which Hearst sought to suppress. In May 1947, Hearst's health compelled him and Marion Davies to leave the castle for the last time. He died in Los Angeles in 1951. Morgan died in 1957. The following year, the Hearst family gave the castle and many of its contents to the State of California and the mansion was opened to the public in June 1958. It has since operated as the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument and attracts about 750,000 visitors annually. The Hearst family retains ownership of the majority of the wider estate of 82,000 acres (128 sq mi) and, under a land conservation agreement reached in 2005, has worked with the California State Parks Department and American Land Conservancy to preserve the undeveloped character of the area; the setting for the castle which Bernard Shaw is said to have described as "what God would have built if he had had the money".

The Hearst Ranch is composed of two cattle ranches in central California. The best known is the original Hearst Ranch, which surrounds Hearst Castle and comprises about 80,000 acres (320 km2). George Hearst (1820–1891) bought over 30,000 acres (120 km2) of Rancho Piedra Blanca, an 1840 Mexican land grant, in the late 19th century. He also bought most of Rancho San Simeon, and part of Rancho Santa Rosa, two other adjacent land grants. The other ranch is the 73,000-acre (300 km2) Jack Ranch at Cholame, California, which was acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 1966. The Jack Ranch comprises most of Rancho Cholame, an 1844 land grant, plus additional lands. The ranch's Circle C brand is the oldest registered brand in use in California. A third collection of Hearst ranches was acquired by the Army to form Fort Hunter Liggett.

Rancho Piedra Blanca was a large, 48,806-acre (197.51 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José de Jesús Pico. The name means "white rock" and refers to rocks painted white by its bird population. The grant extended south along the Pacific Coast below Big Sur from Ragged Point to Pico Creek (formerly Arroyo del Pinal), where it adjoins Rancho San Simeon. The land grant includes the original townsite and post office for San Simeon, the Hearst Ranch headquarters, and Hearst Castle.

San Simeon (Spanish: San Simeón, meaning "St. Simon") is an unincorporated community on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, each of those cities being roughly 230 miles (370 km) away. A key feature of the area is Hearst Castle, a hilltop mansion built for William Randolph Hearst in the early 20th century that is now a tourist attraction. The area is also home to a large northern elephant seal rookery, known as the Piedras Blancas rookery, located 7 miles (11 km) north of San Simeon on Highway 1.

William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach is located near the historic town of San Simeon along California State Route 1, in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. It is named for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951), whose family is closely associated with the area.

The Sebastian Store is a California Historical Landmark (#726) in San Simeon, California, United States. It is the oldest store building along the north coast of San Luis Obispo County. It was built in the 1860s at Whaling Point, one-half mile to the west of its current location where it was moved in 1878. The Sebastian family operated the store for 94 years. It was built in 1852 by Captain Joseph Clark (birthname Machado) to provide goods and services to whalers and the surrounding community. It was moved from the point to its present location by George Hearst and operated by the Thorndyke family until 1914. According to a 2016 article on the "Cambria History Exchange", the store was established in 1852 by Juan Castro (son-in-law of John Wilson) who owned a portion of Rancho Piedra Blanca. Aside from the Hearst family, other prominent customers were reported to include Thomas Edison, Calvin Coolidge, George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill.

Rancho San Simeon was a 4,469-acre (18.09 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Ramón Estrada. The grant extended along the Pacific Coast from Rancho Piedra Blanca at Pico Creek, south along the coast to San Simeon Creek, and includes the present-day townsite of San Simeon Acres.

Cambria State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area located off the coast of the city of Cambria, California on California’s central coast in San Luis Obispo County, California. The marine protected area covers 6.26 square miles (16.2 km2). Within the SMCA recreational fishing and take is allowed while commercial fishing and take of all living marine resources is prohibited.

The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles and south of the San Francisco Bay Area, and includes the rugged, rural, and sparsely populated stretch of coastline known as Big Sur.From south to north, there are six counties that make up the Central Coast: Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz.The Central Coast is the location of the Central Coast American Viticultural Area. Geographically, the actual midpoint of the California coast lies north of Santa Cruz, near Año Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County. Neither the popular use of the term Central Coast nor that of the California North Coast include the San Francisco Peninsula counties of San Mateo and San Francisco.

Hearst San Simeon State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving rocky coast and rare habitats. It is located between Cambria and San Simeon. The 3,409-acre (1,380 ha) park was first established in 1932. The park includes the Santa Rosa Creek Natural Preserve, the San Simeon Natural Preserve and the Pa-nu Cultural Preserve, which were established in 1990. A 3.3-mile (5.3 km) trail runs through parts of the San Simeon Natural Preserve and the Washburn Campground. The trail includes scenic overlooks, rest-stop benches and interpretive panels with information on wildlife and habitat. A portion of the trail along the seasonal wetland is wheelchair accessible. Santa Rosa Creek Preserve is an area that includes valuable riparian forests and coastal wetlands, which provide habitat for endangered tidewater goby. San Simeon Natural Preserve consists of vast wetlands, riparian zones, and several undisturbed native plant communities, including unique mima mound topography. The Preserve is also the wintering site for monarch butterfly populations. In 2005 an additional 1,100 acres (445 ha) of coastal lands were added to the state park following an easement agreement and property exchange with the neighboring Hearst Ranch.

Piedras Blancas Light Station is located at Point Piedras Blancas, about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west by northwest of San Simeon, California. It was added to the California Coastal National Monument in 2017.

The 2003 San Simeon earthquake struck at 11:15 PST (19:15 UTC) on December 22 on the Central Coast of California, about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of San Simeon. Probably centered in the Oceanic fault zone within the Santa Lucia Mountains, it was caused by thrust faulting and the rupture propagated southeast from the hypocenter for 12 miles (19 km).The most violent ground movement was within 50 miles of the epicenter, though the earthquake was felt as far away as Los Angeles. With a moment magnitude of 6.6, it was the most destructive earthquake to hit the United States since the Northridge quake of 1994.