We decided to give it a go and headed north up the coast. We stopped at Morrow and bought some lunch, then stopped in Cambria, about 5 miles south of the Hurst Castle, to enjoy lunch along the coast.
With the camera zoom, we could actually see the Castle on the hills in the background.
The Castle is clearly visible from the visitor center - with the aid of a 20X zoom lens!
A 10 minute bus ride up the hill brings you to the patio where guests would be greeted.
The visitor center is in this picture but is so small as to not be discernible.
The deep water port was built to accommodate yachts and other ships.
The welcome plaza echoes Hurst's fascination with Mediterranean architecture.
Up these steps to the plaza that joins the three guest houses and the Casa Grande.
Just to the left of the welcome plaza is this pool. It is surrounded by beautiful marble statuary.
The facade contains columns from ancient ruins in Europe. As the need for more pool space increased, Hurst had the pool ripped out and replaced twice - this is the third pool!
The guest houses each have suites for each guest. This one has a view of the coast below and gets the Southern sun.
Above the guest house is this plaza that joins the three guest houses to the Casa Grande. Again with marvelous marble statuary! One sculpture is Egyptian and dates to antiquity.
The Casa Grande is patterned after a Spanish church that Hurst visited as a boy during an extensive tour of Europe with his mother. Note the structure is complete with bells in the towers.
And religious artifacts surrounding the main entrance. Note the Blessed Virgin above the door.
Just inside the main door, guests would gather in this main parlor, complete with tapestries and classic sculptures. The wood paneled ceilings were all fantastic. Along the wall are choir seats from European churches.
By traveling through hidden doors, guests would accompany Hurst into the dining hall with it's clear Mediterranean influence. The flags are reminiscent of the colors in the Sienna festival, where each family has it's own flag.
Beyond the billiard room, guests would gather in this theater (the largest room in the house) to view the latest from Hollywood - often pre-release films! Hurst sat in front with a phone. If the film dissatisfied him, he'd phone the projection booth and have them replace the film, possibly with one of Marion Davis (Hurst's second wife) starring.
The final stop on our tour was the indoor pool. The pool is 10 feet deep throughout, except in the alcove behind this diving platform.
The gold colored tiles are covered in gold leaf and protected by a layer of varnish! Supposedly this was often a place of late night rendezvous by the guests and was a very romantic setting.
Following the tour, we were treated to a 30 minute movie "Building the Dream" telling Hurst's story and the building of the dream castle.
Traveling back down, we made a brief stop in Solvang, California. The peopel who settled here were Danish and the architecture reflects that. Most shops closed at 6PM (we arrived at about 5:30), so the streets were pretty bare.
Windmills are commonly seen - and here I thought that was a Dutch thing! Live and learn!
As we reached the coast highway, Theresa caught this fabulous sunset with her new Canon pocket camera.
We reached Oxnard again at about 6:30, just in time for our first In N Out burger of the trip.
(Now that we've been to the gym and weighed in, it may be a while before we indulge again!)
Next, the drive down the Malibu coast with a short stop at Pepperdine University.
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