Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
In W.R. Hearst’s heyday of the 20’s and 30’s he would invite many of Hollywood elite to “come to the Ranch and ride with me.” Some of the famous who stayed there are:
Winston Churchill, Howard Hughes, Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Mary Pickford, David Niven, and Jean Harlow but, many more influential and famous people stayed there as well.
Hearst had rules that must be followed or you’d be asked to leave. Our guide said if you were asked to leave you weren’t invited back!
The Rules: “No drunkenness, no bad language or off-color jokes and, above all, no sexual intercourse between unmarried couples.”
Unmarried couples had to stay in a room with two beds. Each room had a bathroom.
On our tour of the upper floors we saw several of these lavish guest rooms.
Guest Rm II Door
Guest Room door detail
Guest Room II- A dinner suit laid out for a guest on the bed as it would have been in the 20’s and 30’s. Hearst did serve beer, and wine our guide told us, but it wasn’t allowed in the guest rooms, and neither was food.
Guest Room Door III
Guest Room III- these rooms were off a narrow hallway on the north side of the Castle. We climbed a very narrow circular staircase to reach them. The windows of the guest rooms faced East. The artwork, and lamps, and furnishings were gorgeous.
The separate sleeping beds for unmarried couples was a bit hypocritical of Hearst considering he lived in the Castle with his long time Mistress Hollywood actress, and ex-showgirl Marion Davies.
This door was in the North Bell Tower .
Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-70mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015| Hand-held
This post is part of Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors. If you love doors and would like to see the doors others are posting, or post doors you’ve photographed and join other door lovers from around the world click here.
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More to come…
Circadianreflections Blog 
Thanks for sharing your experience, your photos are wonderful.
Thank you so much for the visit Jack!
So beautiful!
Thank you so much Josee!
wonderful shots especially the last!
Thank you so much Cybele!
I love every single thing about this post. I’m enjoying the tour immensely. Gorgeous doors and rooms.
janet
Thank you so much Janet! This is actually my last Doors installment from the Castle. I have a handful of images to share though. 🙂
I really would like to go back again now that I’ve been there with my current camera and do a different tour.
These are amazing doors, and rooms, Deborah. I am impressed that you were able to snag those great photos while on a tour. Fastest camera in town 🙂 I think I like the arched door in the bell tower the best. Very nicely done!
Thank you so much Dan! I lingered and had to catch up with the group more than once. Our guide was very accommodating thankfully.
I worked on that arched door for the longest time. I missed the gold round guest room in the Bell Tower because of it. It was so dark in that little space with the door. I really had to boost my ISO so I could hand-hold the camera and get a crisp shot. I had to open up the shadows and exposure in post more than I would have liked. I hope it doesn’t look too bad!
I think it looks great
Romantically beautiful!
Thank you so much Donna!
Great doors and views of the rooms behind them.
Thank you so much Gordon! How’s your trip going?
Ok so far. Rained for a day and half then it was overcast and smoggy so no dramatic clouds yesterday when shooting from the Bund (it was early afternoon so lighting was terrible). Heading for a small town for couple of days today so will look for doors there 😊.
He-Man was in Hong Kong last week and said it was overcast and rainy all week. He didn’t even see the mountain tops so never took the tram up to view the city or harbor. I still would have loved to go! 🙂
I hope you find some interesting doors among the other interesting sights. Be safe!
Thanks for continuing the tour. This is all stuff we didn’t get to see when we were there so I’m totally loving it!
Some amazing doors in the collection, great shots 🙂
Thank you Norm! I want to go back.
Smiled about your text – no wonder this is how California is seen by non-Californians! But I love the “armored” doors -the combination of wood and iron is my thing anyway- , the little entrance of pillars and the sculptured wood door to the the North bell tower is a little treasure! You have a knack of telling a story!
Thank you so much Jesh!
Ooh, Deborah, I’m loving this tour of Hearst Castle. Such elegance and rich earthy tones. Beautiful.
Thank you so much Jean!
Glad you’ve taken us back at the Hearst Castle again! The room decor doesn’t really suit my taste, but the doors!!! … just one more beautiful selection after another.
It seems to me that people with excessive wealth like to flex their muscles in unusual ways. Yes – his bias against unmarried couples does seem rather hypocritical, or at least rather ironic.
I’m glad you’re not bored with the images yet! This is actually my last Doors post containing Hearst Castle stuff though.
The guide said he built the castle to have a place to store and show off his vast art collection. It was in storage or something prior to this. Of course he just added to it once the house was being built. He bought wonderful painted ceilings, furniture, and artwork from Europe. The house was full of gorgeous stuff.
Yes, a definite case of; do as I say not as I do.
If I’m ever on the West Coast, I will try to add Hearst Castle to my itinerary. From the sound of it, I probably should leave at least an entire day!
I have to admit that these kinds of tours – while eye-popping in the beginning – start to really make me angry after a while. It is such a display of ostentatious wealth while there are so many without basics.
… but there is no question, this is an interesting place to visit!!
This is so interesting and I love the photos!
Thank you so much Antonia!