Hearst Castle - unfinished business

The Ranch had all modern conveniences, not just plumbing, but electricity as well. Mr Hearst was constantly adding new rooms, features and technology to his home. When he decided to add an elevator, Miss Morgan apparently had some reservations. She agreed, but warned Mr Hearst that he would have to watch his diet if he cut down on his stair climbing.



Evidence of the constant construction and reconstruction of the house is visible here and there. Walking in an otherwise beautifully finished stairwell you can suddenly come upon an abandoned window, walled in by the addition of a new wing but never finished.

Even the ceilings were in a constant state of flux. A stairwell, unexpectedly elevated after many years features a pillar that just stops where the former ceiling had been.

Some parts of the buildings were still bare concrete, not yet textured to mimic the mock block structure elsewhere. One of the sweeping balconies was also bare concrete. It's strange in such opulent surroundings to encounter so much unfinished business.

One of my favourite of Julia Morgan's solutions to the constantly shifting shape of the house is the creation of two duplex loft bedrooms. What had been two symmetrical indentations in the building design were made asymmetrical by the later addition of an extra wing. Mr Hearst instructed Miss Morgan to fill them with something.

She considered the tall, narrow spaces and came up with a design for these loft bedrooms. The bed and armchairs were upstairs. Down a narrow spiral staircase was a bathroom, walk-in wardrobe, desk and a larger sitting room.

I liked these cosy little rooms a lot. They were among my favourites of the guest rooms. In typical Julia Morgan style, just because the rooms were an afterthought doesn't mean they didn't get the full ceiling treatment.