Hearst Castle, Dr. Amy Hart + Tara Stephenson, San Simeon

Hearst Castle is a 90,000 square-foot estate built by media magnate William Randolph Hearst between 1919 and 1947. Hearst famously entertained the who’s-who of his age, including Charlie Chaplain, Clark Gable, Winston Churchill, Hedda Hopper, Greta Garbo, George Bernard Shaw, and many more. In 1958, the Hearst family gifted Hearst Castle to the state of California, making it a California State Park and a museum. I wanted to know about how Mr. Hearst ate up on his enchanted hill, so I asked a couple experts over. Dr. Amy Hart is a historian with California State Parks, and Tara Stephenson is Director of Development for the Foundation at Hearst Castle. We talked about Hearst’s grazing habits, his double-vaulted wine cellar, and his favorite late-night snack, Welsh Rarebit.

Website: hearstcastle.org

Instagram: @foundationathearstcastle