What Does This California Castle Have to do with NY State?

Ever heard of Hearst Castle? It's probably one of the most architecturally significant structures in California. With its Taj Mahal vibes, Hearst Castle is considered by Architectural Digest to be one of the 13 most significant castles in the U.S. Did you know there were so many actual castles in the land without a monarchy?

via GIPHY

Potentially one the most interesting features about Hearst Castle, besides its Mediterranean Revival style,

utterly iconic Roman indoor swimming pool,

It's equally iconic outdoor swimming pool

the fact that it exists at all because a woman designed it--

is the fact that it has a deep connection with the state of New York. In fact, one might argue that Hearst Castle wouldn't exist at all, if not for its builder's New York Roots.

Hearst Castle is about 90,000 square feet of fabulous, built between 1919 and 1947 as a collaboration between iconic architect Julia Morgan and William Randolph Hearst Sr. on a tract of land in San Simeon, California that Hearst Inherited and expanded to the tune of over 250,000 acres.

Hearst Castle Connection to New York

The Hearst name is known for its nearly ubiquitous reach in publishing which started with William Randolph Hearst in 1887, an inheritance, New York Journal and yellow journalism. It's a super involved story that includes intrigue, public drunkenness, an extra marital tryst, politics, failed political aspirations, a media monopoly, crazy parties, Hitler/Nazi sympathies, and the movie Citizen Kane. Serious.

Some light reading about W.R, Hearst.

FYI, Hearst (Communications), founded by WR Hearst, which (still) operates from Hearst Tower in Manhattan, owns a few dozen newspapers, has stake in two networks via Disney and operates 30+ well-known magazines including O Magazine, Elle, Cosmopolitan, House Beautiful, Harper's Bazaar, Car and Driver and plenty more.