Barbara. She tells the untold story and the 28 years of a relationship between hearst and his architect julia morgan. She chronicles the evolution of this hilltop. Not only do we view the hilltops, but the spectacular pools and the collection of fine arts and antiques. Sprinkle throughout her books are stories of the famous parties hosted at the Hearst Castle. With his companion movie star Marion Davies, and their celebrity guests, which combined together to bring to life americas most glamorous country home. Please join with me in welcoming victoria kastner. [applause] very glad to be here. One of americas oldest museums to talk about a uniquely american subject, that is William Randolph hearst and his beloved home. He had more than half a dozen houses, all very large and filled with art. But the one he loved the most was san simeon, i think its been most known, this is appropriate for a media personality, like William Randolph hearst, not through historic events, but through a media event. And that was others on welles film citizen cane a great film. But not a documentary. And i think by the end of the evening youll agree with me that san simeon or he called the house, the enchanted hill. Was no zanadu. It was a considered lively house who filled with people and art. Glad to see you all herement i know you are very civic minded and perhaps it will please you to know that all of the royalties for Hearst Castle, the biography of a Country House published by harry abrams, to go a Nonprofit Organization called the friends of Hearst Castle that raises money for art restoration. Another castle project. The beautiful photographs youre about to see were taken, the contemporary ones by victoria gradleano, who was also an employee of Hearst Castle. When he was being formal William Randolph hearst called it the enchanted hill. But usually, just the ranch at san simeon. And actually it was comprised of four large buildings, three cottages as they were known and then this, the Main Building. Which in itself has 115 rooms on four major stories, and 54,000 square feet of enclosed floor space. Plus a 15,000 square foot basement. It was built between 1919 and 1947. And it has been open as a state park since six years after William Randolph hearst death. He died in 1951 at 88. And in 1957 his family and his company, the Hearst Corporation, gave it to the people of california where it is a state park. As matter of fact in 42 years, its been seen by 32 million visitors. So its particularly interesting that mine is the first book to be written about the subject in all that time. This is a photograph of William Randolph hearst taken by photographer cecele beton who came on a january visit in 1934 and talked about hearst meeting him smiling on the steps. Hearst built the house for 28 years. It really was a labor of love for him and his architect sdwrul architect julia morgan. The first woman architect of prominence in america. Who was 47 at the time this photograph was taken. And in her 40s when he hired her to begin building san simeon shed already designed 500 buildings in her career. And youd think this would havoc he think this would occupy all of her time. But actually she designed several hundred more structures, several hundred structures while san simeon was underway. I think the other way that the castle has been known is as a home for glamorous movie star visitors. That was because in complete defines with confence, William Randolph hearst separated from his wife, millecett Veronica Wilson in well about 1925. After five sons. And 20 years of marriage. And mrs. Hearst while they never , divorced, lived on the east coast. And William Randolph hearst lived out west with a hollywood actress. On the opposite side, on the which you see is cary grant on the right leaning against a roman First Century marker. But what hasnt been discussed before is William Randolph hearst as an art collector. He was very different from most american art collectors. He was not someone who made a fortune and then turned to art buying in his 60s or 70s as was the typical american model. He actually collected art all of his life, traveling abroad from the time he was a small boy. I thought i would begin this examination by reading you a letter that he wrote to his mother and fellow art collector when he was 26. About this statue. Which he desperately wanted to buy. Dear mother, why didnt you buy this. It is superb. I have a great motion to buy it myself in fact. The one thing that prevents me is the scarcity of funds, as it were. The man wants 8,000 for the glooming thing, that is a little above my head. I have the art fever terribly. Queer, isnt it . I never thought i would get it this way. I never miss a gallery now and i go and mosy about the pictures and statues and admire them and wish they were mine. My artistic longings are not all together distinct from others, im afraid. So, i want some of these fine things. I want you to have some of these fine things and do you know my beloved mother, there is a way in which you might get them. If instead of buying, half a dozen fairly nice things, would you wait and buy one fine thing, all would be well. As it is at present, we have things scattered from new york to washington to San Francisco. More than a house could hold. Yet not among them half a dozen things that are really superb. He says, it is a great time to buy. The people are heavily taxed the government is nearly bankrupt and cannot buy up these opportunities itself as it is it has formally done and someone will step in and taking his chances here and there will have a collection almost speak tofl almost equal to some of these national galleries. I wish i would be the rich american. I wish you could. How nice it would be if we could exchange all our alleged pictures for two or three Master Pieces such as i have mentioned. In price they are the same. In value how different. I am not going to buy any more trinkets. Then when advanced years i will not have had all that i want but i will want all that i have. Which is better . Go now and do likewise, if you dont, youll be mad at yourself next time you come abroad. Whats the good of more trinkets when you havent room for what we have. Save your money and wait. I see that some royal duke of spain is going to america with a fine collection of old masters will sell them there. Get one. Get a mario or a valsquez. Dont get four or five that nobody ever heard about. Get a mario or a valazquz. Get both if you can. But get at least one good picture and wait again. Your wise and reverend son w. R. H. Well, like many of us, he was dispensing advice in his 20s which he had no intention of following later in life. Mr. I am not going to buy any more trinkets. He became one of the most ae stronishing accumulaters of art so i guess the question is, why. What were the circumstances that changed between this letter of 1889 filled with Good Intention and William Randoph Hearst massive acquiring of objects. One big thing that changed was changed by the American Congress in 1909. That was the tariff. Said that f someone was a work of art and more than a hundred years of age you didnt have to pay any duty. While the initial effect was quite muted because of the first world war, by the end of the war it was the opening of flood gates, as you know many of the great objects in the magnificent art museums of this city, were acquired in that window of opportunity between the world wars. But i think it was more than just the advantage of americans having money to buy after death duties, estate taxes and decimations from war. Which were causing europeans and british especially to sell. It was also William Randoph Hearst own background. He was born an only child. And i think it was quite a significant factor in his life. His father was a miner. Born in missouri, George Hearst, actually came out west, struck it rich with comstock silver and the copper mines. He was a business rival of your great donor, mr. Clark in the anaconda mines in montana. George hearst at 41 married 19yearold Phoebe Hearst. She was a School Teacher in missouri. She came out west, settled with her husband in San Francisco. Determined to become an art collector herself, embrace culture, of course she became one of the americas greatest philanthropists, the copounder of the pta, the builder of free kindergartens. The restorer of all the missions of california. She built the National Cathedral girls school here in washington. When william was born in 1863 he had a very indulged childhood. Only two years after his birth that his father, george, bought up land in the middle of the california coast. Exactly equal distance between San Francisco and los angeles this large ranch of san simeon. In 1865, california had only been a state for 15 years. And George Hearst was buying up what had been mexican land grants. The slide on the right is the valley of the cross. And the slide on the left is san simeon bay. They would take the steamers and dock at the bay and the family would make a habit of coming up to the top of the hill to camp on a buy prominence 1600 feet up above the summer coastal fog. William joked later in life that he was so young the first time he made the trek that he only managed it by hanging on to the sail of his pony. Tale of his ponytail of his pony. There they set up a spot they called camp hill. Phoebe ha had a lot of cultural aspirations. She traveled abroad with him. They stayed a year and half and wrote back to george visiting the mines, he is picture crazy. He whants to buy everything he sees. He did begin collecting. He started collecting cartoons, german drawings, and that would figure in his journalism later. He was a great fan of the cartoon. He, like a lot of rich americans, was educated back east. He went to st. Paul school privately. Then went to harvard. But he never got a degree because he was expelled rusticated, sent home at the end of his junior year, for as he put it a certain deficiencies in studies and lack of attendance in classes. He was completely unfazed by this expulsion. Matter of fact he was a bit of a rabblerouser joked late in , life, it takes a good mind to resist education. [laughter] you but William Randoph Hearst did get something very important out of his harvard experience. It was there as a rich mans son that he was given the job of Business Manager of the harvard lampoon. Always been money loser, but under hearst direction he began to sell triesing make it a he began to sell advertising after that first whiff of printers ink. He was never the same. He asked his father for a newspaper. He hoped the that Family Businesses would i into him. He was given the San Francisco examiner when he was 24. A money losing newspaper. Which he proceeded to pour 750,000 into. He changed the mast head to read the monarch of the day lease. Dailies. He made a big success. Then he headed east and started buying up more papers. Everybody thought the rich boy would get bored. He had a life long fascination with journalism. Said if i had my life to live over again, id be a newspaper man. But just a better one. Many would argue there was room for improvement. Because William Randoph Hearst newspapers would have you chrfping your heart but they were highly subjective and extremely dramatic. As matter of fact, many of the cards were holding now about the prominent role of the press in america were dealt out at the start of the century by William Randoph Hearst. In 1903 as i said he married and theres his wife, millecett Veronica Wilson. He was collecting in a big way. At harvard he collected rare books mostly. Editions of the federalist papers, he always had an excellent collection of that. Started collecting with some real seriousness in his 30s. These paintings, the one on the left is called the rest on the flight into egypt he bought this when he was 30. In 1893. There is a similar one in the boston museum. Mary and jesus have taken refuge in the lap of the sphinx where in the foreground joseph lays sprawled out by the tiny campfire. On the opposite side, hearst was a fan of the great academic sculpture. The head of the paris salon. This is his bonaparte at the sphinx. You see napoleon, and in the left foreground of the right hand, you see the shadow of calvary officers. Another two great 19th century works. These are works that meet one on the way into san simeon in the vestibule. Are these two sculptures. The left hand slide by frederick mcnonese is the it was Charles Mckim who commissioned his friend in the 19th century to create this statue. He was going to give it to the boston library. But they refused. A naked lady obviously in extreme state of drunkenness and holding a baby besides was far too scandalous a subject. Of course after they refused it it soared in popularity. Several bronzes were made. This was exhibited at the worlds exhibition in chicago in 1893. On the opposite side, the sculpture who is created a womans so beautiful that he falls in love with her and the gods take pity on him and bring her to life. There is a painting of the subject subject at the met. This came from the collection of charles yurest, the street car magnet from whom hearst also bought in 1910 this roman box, from 230 ad, it shows Apollo Athena and the nine muses. And actually, apollos head is carved in carved by a different hand. Looks much longer and unlike the other marble figures of the women, the nine daughters of zeus from whom we get the word museum. Actually, this whole box was carved except for apollos head which was left a blank, a block. Then carved at a later time as a funerary portrait of the deceased who must have loved the arts in life. And in death became one with the muses. Phoebe continued to buy, was the gardener of the west. She and her son were fellow collectors. And one of her great one frs the great benefactors was the university of california. She donated millions to it funded the architectural competition for its campus design in 1899, befriended many of the students. Including julia morgan. Who was in the Engineering Department at the university of california. There was no Architecture Department in the 1890s. And Phoebe Hearst actually offered to fund her architectural education. Morgan refused, saying your confidence is enough of an inspiration to me. She had been born in reasonably welloff circumstances. Her family lived in oakland, california. But it was true that Phoebe Hearst remained a patron of julia morgan. They had been introduced by may back bernard made maybeck, the great architect who worked at the university of california and helped phoebe with the architectural competition. A rustic structure in the northern part of california which seemed to rise out of a pine forest in kind of a bavarian Hunting Lodge style. Phoebe built it in the early 1900s, it burned to the ground. William Randoph Hearst rebuilt it in the 1930s. As his own private bavarian refuge, which is still used by the Hearst Family members today. Theres Phoebe Hearst with three of her five grandchildren and with Veronica Wilson. Phoebe did keeps tabs on julia morgan. And encouraged her to be an applicant the greatest school in the world for architects might be willing to accept her as a woman student. Julia morgan traveled to paris and took the examination as did so many rn architects after Richard Morris hunt, the very first one to study there. She didnt pass the first time. And that was pretty common experience. There was even some worry that and talk that it had been because her gender has been found out, that she failed. But she did on the third attempt succeed as matter of fact she came in 14th among 376. She went there and there she learned, there you see a drawing hers on the right, there she learned to use historic precedent and also to think and design buildings from the inside out. She worked with you work for an architect. Much the way she ran her own architectural office. She received her certificate which is something that you acquire by the number of medals, first and second prize medal, is that you achieved by the age of 30. Which was the cut off limit, beyond which all students had to leave. So she did receive her certificate was the first woman ever to achieve that. She went back to the San Francisco bay area and one of her first commissions was this on the lefthand side at oaklands Mills College for women. You see it was done in a Mission Revival style. Steel reinforced concrete built in 1904 and survived the 1906 earthquake without even cracking. Which was marvelous advertisement of Julia Morgans skill. Of course after the 1906 quake that was tremendous amount of work for architects. On the right hand side a fairmont hotel, a brand new building demolished in the quake which julia morgan redesigned. The last project that bernard, William Randoph Hearst and phoebe and julia morgan all had occasion to work on together was the great 1915 worlds fair in San Francisco. Known as, the Panama Pacific International exposition. Or the ppie. William said he never had seen a greater combination of architectural lflyness then at that worlds fair. His mother was the head of the womens board through that julia morgan designed the ywca building and bernard designed the most famous structure. But then later made permanent the palace of fine arts, a magnificent rotunda in front of the lagoon. On the right hand slide you see arcadia, one of the bronze sculptures from the fair, which was exhibited. In which William Randoph Hearst acquired for san simeon. But soon after the fair, Phoebe Hearst died. She died in that influenza epidemic that swept across not just america, but the entire world after the first world war. And in april of 1919, at the age of 56, William Randoph Hearst suddenly found himself the in the inheritor of the family fortune. George hearst died much earlier in 1891, money had reverted to phoebe. He also found himself the inheritor of the vast cattle ranch in san simeon which grew with his, phoebes and George Hearsts Land Acquisitions combined to over a quarter million acre. And one of Julia Morgans employees over heard hearst walk in is to her and announce, miss morgan, ive grown tired of camping at the ranch in san simeon, no more tents. Im getting a little old for that. Im thinking of building a little something. Well, that same employee recounted that story said, and within a month, they were going on the grand scale. Actually the only scale to which William Randoph Hearst was accustomed. He was thinking about a california simple house. It soon evolved into this idea into a group of buildings. They had had sleeping in separate dining tents in the days he had camped in san simeon. And so julia morgan started drawing up schemes like mediterranean hill towns where these three out buildings encircled the main house. Very early on they decided to use not the styles of the san diego worlds fair or San Franciscos worlds fair. But the styles of buildings of the spanish and italian renaissance. There on the right you see a presentation drawing of the middle size guest house with 18 rooms on three stories. Formally named casa del sol for the view of the setting sun. Hearst got his ideas not by going to spain and italy, but i by going to a very influential book called the domestic and garden architecture of Southern Spain. It was published in 1917. The forward was written by bertran goodhue who designed the san diegos worlds fair building fmts what you see on the left is a church which hearst saw illustrated in that book, a church in Southern Spain which he decided would make very nice ins pir rakes for the nice inspiration for the towers of the main house, which he called, as i said, casa grande. Now he wasnt a religious person. Theres no chapel at san simeon. It is a Great American Country House but unlike the Country Houses of britain it doesnt contain areas nor worship. I think he was really feeling like he could create a hill city with a mediterranean approach. On the right hand slide is an early drawing by julia morgan emulating the cathedral. For the doorway of the main entrance, he saw in the same book a church facade from 16th century spain. And on the left hand slide you see the original. Here are these gothic limestone soldiers, flat plaques, an eagle, a lion. You can see here at the san simeon doorway, the julia morgan has imitated it, but improved the scale. Shes using actually 15th century spanish limestone carvings, but there are much larger scale. Here are the flat plaques, eagle and a lion. Instead of the wrought iron grill shes created a canopy niche in which they place add 13th century sculpture of the virgin mary from a church in zamora. William Randoph Hearst was wealthy with money all his life. While julia morgan wasnt that way, she was equally unmindful of it. Often running into debt and often because this particularly indulgent client would be slow to pay. He always paid eventually, but it was never prompt. And one of the ironies of their association is that she died without having made really proper financial investments. She died in 1957, the year that the estate at san simeon was donated to the people of california, six years after hearst death. One of the things her heirs did, she never married, she did save a thousand letters which she and hearst exchanged. But her heirs sold of her sold off her library. In part to pay the bills. And so a lot of the references to which she and hearst referred were cast to the four winds, which i think led partly, along with xanadu impression, to people thinking that san simeon is a complete hodgepodge of illassembled elements. When it was actually very carefully planned. Every aspect discussed between the architect and client over 28 years, we have 10,000 drawings we have a thousand letters. Here you see the west porch of a house. And then the west porch of casa del sol to show you the precedence for it. William Randoph Hearst was also defined by his enthusiasm and impatience and love of san simeon. He wanted things to be done immediately. He was completely unmindful, though, that fact that he kept changing his mind was what often slowed up the plan. Julia morgan said, he does suffer from a great changeableness of mind for which he compensates to some extent by allowing me to change mine now and then. The fact is they had a rare, true collaboration. It was a fascinating aspect of their relationship. I suppose history can see it as good fortune that hearst didnt live at san simeon year around. It was a Country House, a place he only visited on the weekends, spent perhaps a total of four to five months a year. And julia morgan had an office in San Francisco with 15 employees and full time firm. So she commuted by train. And they corresponded. We know a great deal more about the house than we ever would have known if they had just stood and talked to one another. Its quite clear from the evidence that hearst was consulting lots of precedence and overbrimming with ideas. Think of the difficulties. World war one had just ended. Labor was short. Materials were in very short supply. There was a huge longshoremans dock strike. The first thing they had to do was ship in all the materials to san simeon bay. And then build a road to haul everything six miles from the bottom to the top of the hill. Because as hearst said to morgan, the main thing at the ranch is the view. Having lived through the 1906 earth quake they determined that their only material for all construction would be steel reinforced concrete. And for this they actually used the rock of the hillside, which was called a mixture of rock churt and other stones and actually made an excellent grade of congreet which they micked by they mixed by the barrelful with as many as 6090 men living in tents at the top of the hill. Julia morgan had a whole crew of people who worked with her and she brought a bunch of them down from San Francisco. She said some of them didnt even take a chance to unpack. Hearst was paying union scale wages, she said the men said the food was fine and the surrounding was nice, but they just didnt like feeling so far away from things. Im hiring country men as fs as as fast as i can. And they did indeed hire a lot of local laborers to do the work at san simeon. The guest houses were the first things built. And went up quickly. All three under construction from 19201924. Hearst was very involved not just with the Exterior Designs of these spanish and italian renaissance precedence, but with the interior. And he was fascinated by the work of Stanford White. As matter of fact he sent jewel julia morgan this photograph of the house of Paine Whitney at 972 fifth avenue in new york. And this was one of whites last commissions. It was actually built pos thu built posthumously. White died, shot us a know in that scandal over evelyn nesbitt, the chorus girl. This house was constructed in 1909. Hearst writes, i dont know if i can get enough red velvet from genoa. Obviously we cant have antique ceilings shipped in so well have to make do with ones we can make here. This is a plaster ceiling which was made actually in oakland california. Cast in molds then gold leafed at san simeon. They did find old genoa velvet. You can see how carefully theyre following the symmetry of this room. Hearst was attuned to Stanford White, his objects and ideas all his life. Even though after all of the scandal associated with whites death that was a huge backlash and many of whites former proponents became just as vigorously his against him. But hearst went to the 1907 sales that were held in whites house. And bought a number of pieces. Including in the left hand slide this ceiling, which had been in whites drawing room. It actually is a composite of a couple of different paintings. The center med dal yan of the center medallion of the angels, its a painting from the 17th century. The virtues were painted much later in the 18th century. It was doubtless white put them together. He hung a chandelier from the center, when this was in his drawing room. He also probably know, he crusaded for american tariffs to be reduced so people could buy. He acted as a art dealer as well as architect. He bought this mantle piece which has the coat of arms of the family, he bought it in france then built it into charles barneys mansion in new york. When barney died and the house was demolished hearst actually , bought it many years later in 1922 and gave it a place in san simeon. William Randoph Hearst was the same kind of collector that Stanford White had been. He specialized in pottery, stain glass pieces, lots of furniture. In 1920, his son, Lawrence Grant white, published monographa spirit in defense of his fathers. Attempt to reveal the tarnished reputation. And Lawrence Grant white said, my father put very little stock in painting. He wasnt interested in the minor works of the old masters. He was much more interested in decorative arts. What white would do, and others would do couple of decades later, was build around objects. I dont mean literally around them. Much more often they would alter the pieces to make them fit. But take a major element of architecture like a ceiling or a mantle piece. And then make it the feature of the room and mix things in such a way that what you ended up with was a rich cultural layering. That achieved the affect of generations of family and centuries of collecting. But in a very short amount of time. White also believed in modern generations of family and craftsmanship and julia morgan had a whole stable of craftsman. These are the wrought iron doors of the house of the sun. And this figure here is the detail. Its actually a portrait of the craftsmanship and julia morgan artist. His name is edward. He was born in oslo and did these doors in los angeles in the 1920th. Perhaps you note that every other member of the doors is a character with a very large nose. But hes given himself an extremely small one. These are based on another great german cartoonist from the cartoon strip max and maurice. Here is a drawing by julia morgan in which two figures looking very much like morgan herself and William Randoph Hearst are standing at a garden entry and consulting. And here on the other side you see on the right hand slide the two of them working, hearst face is obscured by a beam. There was no romance, built they had a remarkable relationship. Perhaps because it was his mother who had introduced them so many years ago. Walter, who over heard that first remark said about these two, next to mrs. Hearst, miss davies, miss morgan was a woman who meant the most in William Randoph Hearst life. He said not in the romantic way, but these two had a remarkable friendship. He said i cant go back to san simeon without feeling that that place is haunted by these two great personalities. You can see them bent over a drawing, almost watch the spark as it traveled from one to the other of their foreheads. For these two very different people just sort of clicked. Well ive often wondered how many of Julia Morgans colleagues got to use the grand schemes and architectural techniques they learned their the way that she did, working with craftsman in the 1920s designing the mermaid tiles and bunny tiles. Sometimes working from precedence as in this case. This is a cornace on a building in the north of spain which hearst had seen and admired in a book and told julia he wanted to imitate. Instead of making it level they made it gabled this is the teak cornace which is such a distinctive figure on the front of the entrance. All carved out of teak, which had been ordered from boat building project. It was in the warehouse in San Francisco and julia morgan found out about it, cabled hearst, he bought the whole lot for 5,000. Here you have a greco roman portrait bust, this double bust from the First Century. And then the modern translation of that bust into a lamp standard done in cast stone. Some of the work was carved stone, but most of it was this molded beach sand washed beach sand from the region. Used as the ago grat of the concrete pack sbood wooden used as the aggregate packed into wooden forms. Of course since this was san simeon and they generated their own power, they had water from the early days, they had a source from higher mountains of gravity flow springs, which generated a hydro electric plant until the mid 1920s when ne hooked up to public power. They had electric light. Here you see these lamp standards turned around the neptune pool which well delve into more later. But one of san simeons most conspicuously beautiful areas. They also designed the Night Lighting in completely original items like this swan lamp standard done by one of her employees. Here is the shot of the hill where you can see from the air this was taken in the middle 1930s. Like a small city. All of this southern portion of the hill top here, these are workers quarters. They had they started out with tents. Those blew down in the first rain. And so they constructed barracks buildings. There could be as many as 90 men living in camps on south side of the hill. Here are the guest houses to the front. That is the neptune pool. Theyre doing additions on the back of the Main Building. It had both the south and the north wing added on. Also added on which well see later, Tennis Courts which formed the roof for yet another swimming pool. In all the years of construction with literally totals of thousands construction workers there never were any fatalities on the job. The way that julia morgan work ed, that she worked from a model. In the early years she would ship the model back and forth to hearst, but it got too large to send. So she had a woman architect in her office who worked on this model named julian mesik and they would take photographs of the model and then tint the photographs and then send them to hearst. So that they could try out new ideas. He wanted things to come together very quickly, but the great hall, or as they called it the assembly room, the large room in front of the Main Building was a complicated room to put together. They were work on it from 19221928. But hearst used whatever portions of the house were ready. It was the large gathering spot, here you see the Stanford White mantle piece. Also a white idea to take seats from churchs, choir stalls and use them as that. To use as tapestrys. Hearst was a specialist in certain areas of art collecting. I should tell what you they are. Elements of architecture renaissance furniture, fabric of every type, pottery and english silver would be his areas of specialty. Actually, he was was almost an omnivorous collector who found everything of interest. This was a Country House. Dedicated to informal pursuits. So you see things like the venus here. Next to this poker table. At the north end of the room alice marble won wimbledon and came to san simeon as a young girl. She had older brothers. And a photographic memory. Arthur brisbane asked her if she would mind taking over his hand. Hed been called upstairs for a meeting with hearst. She sat down and won 11,000. Hearst came down as all the other people were taking out their checkbooks and said, i cant accept that. My mother would kill me. And wouldnt take the money after which was she was a frequent guest to san simeon. But this whole notion of informal activities in the outdoor life, lots of socializing in the backdrop of fine art is definitely borrowed from the great Country Houses of, well, of course newport, long island, rhode island, florida, also the great Country Houses of britain. Here is the Venus Italica, i would spend a moment on it since you have a conrain yus copy of have a copy of the hope they miss which is one of four antonio carved. This one is the second one. And those of you who are familiar with the hope venus will note that here in the second version, done around 1805 she is hugging the draperies close to her chest. Whereas in the hope venus she lets the drapery drop. It was after this piece that was taken by napoleon that antonio was approached to create a carving. He didnt like to copy classical statues. He consented to do it. Then he got so involved that he actually created not a copy of the original venus, but his own unique work. As i say he did four of them. This is the second one which was carved and then sold to prince lucian bonaparte. William Randoph Hearst bought it at one of the liquidations of a Great British collection. That was the marquee, it was put up for sale. Hearst bought it had an agent bid for him. His own fatherinlaw, George Wilson bid on the piece. Hearst often did that. He said, when i sit on the floor of an auction, the price seems to keep going up. So he had agents. But the interesting thing about it is that from 1930 until the present day, many art scholars have listed this Venus Italica as missing. And not missing because it was bought by a representative of the collecter that is often the way pieces are acquired, missing i think is especially unusual term considering that in the last 42 years, its been seen by 32 million people. But san simeon has not been thought a place where fine artery sided or where art fine art resided or where art scholars had any reason to go. And i think that is why its been under the radar has only recently been discovered and reported as existing there. One of the few other places its listed is in yor catalog of the clark collection on the anniversary, the 50th anniversary, by the way, which was published in the 1970s. Hearst did go to auction sales. Basically bought in america not abroad. At new york galleries, was such a good customer of mitchell sam uels of the great dealing house french and company, that in the 1920s he was given this, a box of rock crystal and gilt bronze and ebony, which is has inside floor laid in semi precious stones. Told you that he was especially interested in acquiring elements of architecture. And san simeon contains the finest collection of antique ceilings in the country. Theres one antique ceiling at the morgan library, one at viscia, one at the gardener museum. Couple in the met. San simeon has 40. 40 antique ceilings, spanish and italian. This is example of one. To give you a sense of scale these this is from that same building, the assembly room. These panels are each eight feet long. All carved in renaissance walnut. Here is a close up of one panel of neptune and his wife and the dolphins at their feet. Now this ceiling wasnt the right size for the room, nothing ever was. It was made to fit all of these beams that run across it are plaster. Of course all 300 light bulbs were added. This is not a structural ceiling. In this case the ceiling is suspended by cables of concrete by cables of copper and hemp to concrete beams above. This is where everybody dined, a hall. Hearst said, i think it will look good to have the tap he is tapestries low in there. It is as they are at hampton court. 14thcentury gilded iron gate at the far end has above it in fragmentary cloister comments and menstrual gallery where musicians could stand and serenade the guests. Whom you see here dining. Here is hearst in the center. That is how they always did it at the ranch. William Randoph Hearst knew the value of a gesture, this must have shocked people exceedingly this is the west, the outdoor life, the informality was not the way it was done on the east coast. There you see the refectory decorated. The typical habit, he sat at the center of the table with Marion Davies, and when the guests arrived, they become in a train from los angeles to san luis obisbo. Then they had to drive up dirt road. A long trip of several hours for usually Country House weekend visit. When they first arrived, they would sit in the center. Near the host and hostess. As their stay would link then they would find their card making its way further down the edges of the table. When he got to the last seat, he left and found his plate on the floor. Cary grant, whom i met in the 1980s talked about being a guest of honor couple of dozen occasions. He remembered the time best the long weekend when he was the only guest. Just he hearst and marion sat in , in there singing english drinking songs all night long. There was a billiard room like in any good Country House with this gaming scene. There you see, one of the 1920s flappers posed on her way into the smallest of the three cottages. And the theater, where there were nightly films. Hearst in a great departure, not just from the english Country House traditions, but from even the Country Houses of the east coast, would have a movie every night, often a Marion Davies film. But he did produce 120 films in his career. He would have the guests in the front rows and then invite all of his staff to join the guests. He and the guests for the movie and they would sit in the back rows at 11 00 p. M. When it was pointed out to him that this was awfully late for staff who had to get up in the morning, he instituted an earlier showing so that the gardeners and construction workers could see the film at 7 30 before the guests. And only the housekeepers would join the guests and see the film at 11 00 since they had to be there for the dinner. It was the secretarys job to assign the guests to their rooms. Here you see jack, in the one room everybody asked for which had this bed in it. Its not french, has nothing to do with it. Named by construction worker on the site. But it was sure grand. Its 17th century baroque bed from italy. And everybody asked for it. It was building this house on the wrong side of the country, he was building it deliberately with all the wrong people. Important point. Built by a woman architect presided over by a movie star. The home of a media mogul. There are many ways in which san simeon says a lot about how culture has changed and social hierarchy has broken down in our 20th century. I think hearst had strongly didactic reason for socializing as he did. Today it seems usual to us, that the culture is Business People sports figures, literary figures and movie stars. But it was quite a departure from convention to socialize that way in the 1920s. This Beautiful Library has one of the great collections, which is greek faces. Hearst started collecting faces in 1901 when he was a young man and collected them up until 1951, the year of his death. Unlike mr. Clark, hearst never bought things in mass. He didnt like to buy collections that other people had formed. He went after object by object. His possessions always had very large say in the collecting to the despair of the dealers he never would follow their advice. His greek face collection was described as the finest in the 20th century. That would still hold true in the first half. There you see one of the fine examples on the far slide of the owned this fine 7th century and with a spirit of chariot before hearst bought it in the 1930s. There is his room is this south gothic bedroom. Where the windows or doors that lead out to balconies. Marion davies hased north gothic had the north gothic bedroom on the opposite side. And on this floor was also the other library. His private preserve called the gothic study. With fanciful arches created in plaster inspired by 14th century ceiling. And fine metal work including this clock from oxberg made in the 16th century. There were rooms even higher yet for guests to use. He added them on, thats why, they were an after thought. It was called the celestial suite. The bell tower with 18 bells on each side, just below this is the suite. You see the magnificent setting of countryside all of which hearst owned behind it. As for this celestial suite, i dont know what i like the best, going out on the balconies of which there were three, and watching the fingers of fog drift in from the ocean or drawing every drape because then i felt i was in a gold jewelry case. Here you see ed hopper. And frances goldwin, constance talmage, what are they doing . A jigsaw puzzle. Orson welles never came to san simeon he used this as the metaphor for loneliness and despair in citizen cane as i sat it was a place of great fun, there you see hearst, the son of a pioneer dressed up like a 49er and marion in a bonnet looking like my darling clenentine for one of many costume parties that were tradition at the ranch. There is Jimmy Stewart in 1938 looking astonished at being there. And hearst working, marion said, w. R. Was a very fine host but he wasnt very social. Hed greet the guests then disappear. It was true that a lot of the social details fell to marion. It was she who animated the house. Warm hearted, funny, a soft touch. Sent the cooks daughters to college. Said the best dressed girls the first one of them in the morning. Hard to find anyone who would say a bad word about marion who seems to have been beloved figure at the hill. So much of the beauty of the hill came from the exterior. On which hearst worked a great deal. In this, he and julia morgan collaborated. San simeon had only she as architect no interior designer and no landscape architect. It was just the two of them. Constantly working, i would say that 45 of the exxon tents of of the contents of their letters concerned the gardens. A great admirer of charles plat who did the wing on your museum. And she, i think, used his inspiration to create this mixture of english country gardens, the cottage style plantings, very rich in lavish. This is outside casa del sol. And the views, the cyprus, the this does and terraces from italian gardens. They were ancient pieces, but also pieces like this girl with goat. From 1930. Or cecil remarked i noticed that some of the stat tution seemed statues seemed not up to snuff, almost cheap, jack. He said it was very surprising but then i thought, weve been overwhelmed by others that it was nice is see a nymph with bobbed hair eating an apple. Thought i would show you how the gardens grew as the buildings grew. This is the west central terrace and there is the statue hearst coveted. Which he did indeed buy and gave the private place right in front of the main house. You see this oak tree right behind the fountain. They felt it interfered and of course it also added a lot of leaves for the fountain. So they rebuilt the terrace, here is the statue, the pool was added in 1928. And they moved the oak. Hearst revered the natural landscape, none of the native trees was ever cut down. The oak is now back there. And here you see it on the march. They moved four ocean, 250yearold trees. The coastal person buy encasing them in concrete to encase the root structure then draging them with house moving equipment. None was ever cut down. Of course they also hauled in the other trees that didnt grow in this mediterranean setting like the italian cyprus making their way up the hill after the topsoil had arrived by the ton to support them. And another part of the Country House tradition, hearst had a group, there you see marion with the elephant named mary anne. He had cages. But also 2,000 acres where they roamed. And what you see this sort of structure is one of the animal shelters which they kept open. What they did was give the antelope and ostrichs, giraffes this country to roam in. Thep just disappeared. Headed for the hills. So they built these shelters to get the animals accustomed to eating there. And then they stayed nearby the road. And the guests were invariably as astonished by this as they were by any other aspect of this Country House. P. G. Woodhouse wrote, youre apt to see a lion or bear or even sam goldwyn when you came. And it was one of the workers who talked about at night going through the groups of animals all on the sixmile drive. And their lights catching the headlights of their eyes, he said and shining like the lights of the distant city. Well it was another world. Cecil, posing with the screen writer, said, i fancied i would ride a brave moment since i hadnt been in the saddle for awhile. Riding clothes were soon lent me and i fancied myself enormously. The guests did go off on to the trails with dude wranglers along to show them the way. Hearst traveling abroad also with his guests would take a lot of people who had never been to europe and teach them all the sights. Here you see marion, he said after seeing this, he wrote julia morgan in the middle 1930s, it strikes me that just in this miss morgan, that our gardens are inferior to the wren to the renaissance gardens. We need fountains which fount. Im sending you photographs of tivaly, maybe they will affect you as they have affected me. Of course water is a very scarce item at san simeon. But they did indeed in the but they did indeed in the middle 1930s create two great water affects. The two lovely pools, one is this neptune pool which was rebuilt a couple of times to the final version. Part roman empire, part a painting. And perish was an illustrater who worked for the hearst press, by the way. These are ancient roman columns, a renaissance neptune then the three dimension nal pieces sunk into concrete to look like a relief carving. And 1930s marble statues around the pool. Including that group on the opposite side by charles called, the birth of venus. He ar dwud that they really ought to have some low figures out here, little tortoises or fish coming up. Which would triangulate the fountains. They never did it, this was not just a water affect, this was a pool. Heated the year around with a kerosene oil fuel boiler system. 345,000 gallons of water from 3 1 2 to ten feet in depth. The last thing they wanted is marble statue that you were going to hang your head into while you were swiping fmgt the whole point was that this water used not just as architectural affect, but for pleasure. The pool was actually white marble when empty and green serpentine from vermont. There you see hearst playing with the dog. He had more than a hundred dogs. This is another pool that he had at his atlantic college. He owned in wales. Of course, one spectacular pool like that would be quite trophy, but san simeon does indeed have two. As i said the Tennis Courts at hearst inspiration were excavated beneath and beneath the court they built the roman plunge as they called it. This pool all lined in glass tile, which has the feeling of being subterranean even though it is above ground. Like a rich renaissance water grotto. The water really looks more like a mirror. And illuminates this gold 22 karat gold and blue mosaic tile. This pool cost hearst 440,000 to build in the 1930s. And he was actually ignoring the depression, not wanting to lay off any employees. He had tens of thousands of employees across the country. And not able to spend at this laugh i can amount when his newspapers were hemorrhaging money bankruptcy. Morgan of having her troubles. She always had health problems. Ear infection, congenital since childhood which worsened. She add an operation in the late 1920s, actually things went bad. She had another one in the 1930s. And the surgeon bungled it. He severed an artery. She seldom posed for photographs. But you see her here, her face has a decided droop on one side. She always been deeply self effacing, a very private person who said her buildings would speak for her. After this, loss of the facial disfigurement, she was very sell dom seen by the guests as she put it, architects should be symmetrical. William Randoph Hearst could no longer be optimistic in the face of traer evidence. His Business Affairs were decided for him. His business was going to be incorporated an his art was going to be sold and at such massive quantities that its never been a precedent like it before us or since in history of art sales. They started to liquidate in the late 1930s. First the silver in london. Then the books. But nobody had any money to buy, as matter of fact they said in the late 1930s that liquidating hearst Art Collection by auction was the equivalent of emptying an oil tanker with an eyedropper. So what they did instead was open the fifth floor of Gimbels Department store. They had luck before. And they had what amounted to a fire sale, where people came in off the street and thus many pieces went to the four wings, into private hands, public collections. The quantity of his holding so vast that san simeon represents 10 of hearst objects as a collector. And mostly san simeon was not decimated. It was mostly warehouses and other houses, 110 room beach house in sm, 30room apartment in riverside drive. Large french chateau in sands point at long island. The castle i mentioned in wales. Million acre ranch in mexico. The bavarian village of wintune. Objects were liquidated from those places and warehouses. They pulled him out of the red. That and the liquidations and incorporations. Bus also this vast gathering, a ray of objects brought hearst to public ridicule as well. He wasnt like a collector. More like the great collectors from the wren vans through the 18th century. Who didnt rely on dealers. The gentleman collectors who traveled abroad who made their own decisions, who were fascinated by curiosity as well as fine objects of art. I have here on the right side, a broom from am ster bam made out of human hair. And here, an ceremonial oxial, a 400yearold oxiok which showed bread baking and plows. Among the pieces sold are some you may recognize, actually this was a donation from the Hearst Foundation to the metro poll tan museum in new york. This grill, a magnificent 50 by 70 foot, 18th Century Church grill which hearst bought for a great wing at the back. You have me up nights, wrote julia morgan to William Randoph Hearstrr wondering what to do with a 50 by 75 foot gate. Put it in a grand ball room which was never built. Now at the entrance to the medieval wing. Very soon will have the famous Christmas Tree in front of it that always orn hents the great italian ornaments every season. And then at the National Gallery in washington, actually this piece was put up for sale, this painting refuting that hearst didnt buy good paintings. He bought this. This painting of queen henretta, this dwarf who was her companion, h was painted in 1633 went up for sale, wasnt bought. Was bought back in actually bought it in the early 1950s and presented to the National Gallery of washington. Its fitting that there should be an andy warhol reception. Because William Randoph Hearst was first people to really embrace high art and low art simultaneously. Uncommon thing to do in the 1920s. There you see a Painting School of about 1320. And this art deco dancer, the harlequin lamp and statue made into a lamp in the 1920s. There are fine world class pieces of art like this chest cabinet made in france. And in the center medallion signed and dated by jean decorse who was the from the 1860s. Of much of san simeon remains unfinished. He left of the home in late 1930s. You can see the bare areas of here of concrete. And how the antique stone window frames and va neerb an balcony were just set into concrete. This ballroom is supposed to stretch across the back courtyard. None of that was ever done. He did make his money back and come back and triumph at age 82 in 1945 for a final explosion. Of buying and building, a northern wing of the house full of bedrooms for guests and lavish marblelined baths of the 1940s. Colleen, in her 50s, so, what do you do in this house . You live here year around, parties are over, friends all went home. What do do you . She said, oh, a little se working and a little ironing. I dont think it was so much about occupants as it was about objects which hearst had in great numbers and wanted to display like this 16th century carved dome ceiling known as the dome through the open window here, the gothic window you can see sealed in areas of the southern wing of the house added on but never completed, this north wing. There is casa grande as it stands today with the five buildings, three small houses, the main house, the in door pool and the neptune pool. Hearst spent his last couple of years back in the house where he first lived in casa del mar. The larjs of the three houses with the great views of the coastline. Others enwells had never been here, when he wanted to create xanadu they had lavish sets in mind but not the budget to undertake them. So instead they cited most of the rooms in the great hall, used a lot of velvet cloth, hung it around, used low lighting one staircase they found on the set and great big fireman tell. That became the image in the publics mind this vast gloomy hall full of meaningful junk known as xanadu. These are the first houses built in 1920s. That is enormous amount of area for 1920s house. The rooms were very light and airy. And hearst didnt want to leave them. When he was 84 with the worsening heart condition, did he leave for los angeles only after his attempt to talk los angeles leading heart surgeon into moving up to san simeon to reside is not successful. Marion bought a house, the goetz residents at 1007 beverly drive. And it was there he spent his last four years of life buying a lot of art for the Los Angeles Museum of art. Collecting, mentally keen up until the end. He died in 1951, august 14th. At age 88. That very sad photograph is of his beloved little dog, helena after his body removed and she sits waiting in vein for her masters return on his bed. Theres a tremendous feeling to san simeon as i say a lot of ways chin encapsulates the 20th century. And all the aspirations. Marion said herself he didnt like it when people called it the castle. It was always the ranch. Of course, he wanted it to be a museum. And julia morgan said, of course this isnt just for him. The country needs architectural museums. Not just places where you keep painting and statues. William Randoph Hearst himself said at age 83 in 1946, when Newsweek Magazine asked him, has the amount of money you spent on your Art Collection been justified by the amount of enjoyment youve had from it . He said, the enjoyment ive had from these objects is nothing. To the enjoyment others might have from them ends up in museum, some should come to america. We cant all go abroad. I hope youve enjoyed the journey with me tonight, the enchanted hill. Thank you. [applause] couple of questions. Could you speak about what maintenance is involved with these buildings and second unrelated question, has the staff figured out how much money hearst spent on the buildings as opposed to the art. [inaudible] in terms of the ground staff, we have about 1520 people. Another 1520 people who do the maintenance and cleaning. As many we spent a Million Dollars ar on maintenance and we have a quarter Million Dollars annual art restoration budget which is why raising money with things like my book royalties is so important because thats not nearly enough for museum that has 22,000 individual objects in it. Were a part of the department of parks and recreation who have done a wonderful job maintaining and opening the house. But were one of 275 parks so we dont receive the revenues that we generate. All of the money goes into a fund and we and everyone else takes from that fund as far as the ticket sales. As far as how much it costs is one of the most fascinating aspects. We know that is part of this being such a documented process. Julia morgan totaled up the constructions costs we know who hearst spent on the Art Collection. Remember the years, were 1919 to 1947 with an eightyear hiatus. Two decades of building. He spent about 5 million total on the construction. And another 2. 5 to 3. 5 million on the Art Collection. Employed people who didnt do work but work in his warehouses and keep the acquisition records for his purchases. And we have all of that information. So it was built and furnished for well under 10 million. Yes. You mentioned this is the first book that has ever been a Tv Documentary or i just worked with the a tv crew who will show on the Discovery Network a document terry on san simeon in february. Theres been an excellent documentary on julia morgan. She had one biographer who created a book on julia morgan. Hard thing to do with such a recalcitrant subject. Really there hasnt been a comprehensive documentary on san simeon before. Now there have been many kind of general ones. Other things . I remember reading somewhere that mr. Hearst changed these [inaudible] you mentioned sixmile drive. That he changed the trees numerous times. You were talking about not cutting anything down. But he had them all over that he didnt like them and moved them all three feet. Thats right. Question about changing the trees. They were going to plant that driveway at one point with italian cyprus, part that have whole idea of renaissance villa garden which they drew on so heavily that Charles Platt did so much to study and poop pew lar rise as style. But then they decided not to do that. I dont know why. Im giving you just my surmise. But they never had enough water. They never did. They had voltage drops and when they were using the water to generate their own power. And then once he hooked up to the public power, you can imagine what it took to plant those gardens and supply all of the grounds. I think that they may well have decided to concentrate their plantings at the top of the hill. Which gives it much more the feeling of a renaissance city. Of course the amazing thing about san simeon is the size of the park in Country House parlance. It really is a park. A quarter of a million acres. Though the Hearst Corporation and family still own a good deal. Its virtually unal tered. It looks the way it looked in 1769. When the spanish walked by except for highway one and just a few buildings. That is a wonderful thing to look out see that much land, of course very little naturally grows there because theres so little water. Ocean, a couple of other varieties, bay trees, certain kind of maple are about it. Otherwise its grassland. Yes. There is still a victorian house there . Its at the bottom of the hill. The Hearst Family who are comprised today of one of the five sons, ran dafl apperson hertses is still alive. Many descendants. Grandchildren and more, great grandchildren. They do still sometimes stay at the bottom of the hill. Use it just as a family retreat. For awhile, they lived in the house i showed you last, casa del mar they lived in that until the middle of the 1970s. There were tours walking by, they still did use a portion of the house that recently. Are the descendants of the animals still there . Well, things like the polar bears are gone. And the brown bears. Can you imagine keeping Something Like that up . He gave the exotic animals away in the 1930s to other zoos because he couldnt keep a zoo going in the depression either. But there is zebras and couple of kinds of goats from north africa. And indian deer called sandbar who are still in herds on the hill. Yes. Could you talk some more about the other art, for example, a lot has been sold. Is there still art in warehouses . Things like that. Yes, there is still art in warehouses. Its staggering to contemplate there could be more. But indeed its so. There are pieces in crates in major museums, rooms and chimney pieces that sort of thing that have been donated by the Hearst Foundation and corporation that have not yet been used in museum exhibits. Then theres a warehouse in new york which still has objects in it. Now its not things like paintings. Its ceilings, marble stair cases, massive elements of architecture. Try to put a value on what he bought over a lifetime . Not that i know. Certainly joseph duvene who sold so many pieces that you have here said he was a prime example of the grand accumulater. I dont think so. He was always a bargain hunter something to think about. Occasionally he paid a lot. Like for the vandyke painting that was middle sixfigure purchase price. Usually he was he had the eye for a bargain. Of course he had a different motivation. As i say more like the renaissance to the 18th century no. Necessarily only buying the best. But suiting his own personal taste and buying things that delighted him. There is this wide range, not just the age and origin. But the quality of his objects varies widely. It was a house. He liked these pieces around him. Is there any account of guests coming and messing with the art, trying to take it away or defacing it or during the big parties. What about the guests. Frances marion, who hearst hire add lot of women. Wasnt just a woman architect. E head of the british magazine top reporters were women. And he also used Frances Marion who is one of the top screen writers in hollywood. She wrote screen plays for Marion Davies but also for every other leading star. She said that the place had almost nothing of the human about it. It so magical except for all the human beings who did their best to destroy the illusion with their behavior. It was prohibition and hearst was not a drinker. And very sadly, i think, Marion Davies she was. This was in citizen cane seemed a low blow for someone who was very kind to one and all that Susan Alexander cane was an opera singer who couldnt act, that may have been based on other kind of millionaires who were opera singer who couldnt sing. People thought that marion was an actor who couldnt act. The alcoholism of the character seems to have been a direct jab. I think that hearst didnt want the guests to over drink because the it was a temptation to marion. Because it was a danger to the Art Collection. Not many stories of wild parties. He after all was in his 60s and 70s and 80s and some of these guests were hardly out of their teens. A couple of things, cary grant told us that he was asked to leave the hill. Hed gone up in an airplane. Hearst had planes and pilots by the late 1920s. And he went up in an airplane with one of the hearst sons they took these paper bags filled them full of flour and dropped them as bombs on the roof of the poultry ranch at the bot tomorrow of the hill. Looked like a mushroom cloud. Going straight through they thought it was hilarious. Not realizing the impact that Something Like that could have on the ground. Got back up and the housekeeper said, mr. Grant your bags are packed. He said someone interceded. He didnt have to leave the hill. I suppose because hed been following the dictates of the son of the host. But if things did get out of hand, there certainly was a kind of tightening of the reins as david niven said the wine flowed like glue. Grant said you got one week martini or two if you were quick. Before dinner. Anything else . Well its been a great pleasure. I hope ive whetted your appetite both for the book and both to get your tickets and come out to san simeon and see us some day. Wed love to see you there. Thanks very much. [applause] on history bookshelf, here from the countrys bestknown American History writers of the past decade every saturday at or club p. M. Eastern. 4 00 p. M. Eastern. To watch these programs anytime visit our website. You are watching American History tv all weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. Tonight at 10 00 White House Correspondent for american urban radio april ryan on her more than 25 years in journalism and her coverage of three president ial administrations. Sunday at noon, our threeour conversation with walter isaacson, whose biographies include in franklin, Albert Einstein and the International Bestseller on steve jobs. And on American History tv on cspan3 today at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, the civil war and how the cowboy during reconstruction became symbolic of the newly unified america. Sunday evening at 6 00, we will tour the house that was the headquarters of the American Red Cross and learn about the life of its founder, clara barton