California Dreamin' – Hearst Castle



A North Carolina Cottage


While today there is an emphasis on smaller, greener living spaces with mini-ecological footprints that appeal to more energy-conscious buyers, such concerns did not exist in William Randolph Hearst's day. It would take 1,407 of these 64-square foot North Carolina cabins to fill up Hearst's estate.

In fact, the media magnate, who was so obviously not in the forefront of the small-house-movement, spent decades overseeing construction of his gigantic 90,080 square foot estate with its four main buildings containing 56 bedrooms, 41 fireplaces, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, and two libraries.

One of the many guest rooms.

So his guests would not tire of the accommodations, there were also extensive gardens planted with 6,000 rosebushes (Because Hearst couldn't stand watching them, the gardeners worked only at night.) and a 2,000-acre zoo—once the country's largest.