Hearst Castle - Neptune Pool

Our tour started on the steps at the front of one of the "little" houses. Russ explained that as guests of Mr Hearst in the 1930s, we would have arrived by pretty much the same route that our shuttle bus took when it dropped us off at the equestrian entrance.

What could be nicer after our hot, sweaty trip than to jump straight in the pool? Mr Hearst has thoughtfully provided for that desire. The pool is right there along with a large number of gentlemen's and ladies' individual changing rooms, each with its own shower and a supply of bathing suits in various sizes. The bathing suits were fashionable for the day, which in the 1930s meant they were rather voluminous and made out of wool. They were itchy when dry and absorbed enormous amounts of water when wet. They were hardly conducive to swimming, but that wasn't really a problem since most of the guests couldn't swim very well.

There were a few notable exceptions, including Olympic athletes like Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel. It was 1926 and Gertrude slashed the previous record speed by over 2 hours. She achieved this, according to Russ, by being the first person to cross the channel using the Australian Crawl. On behalf of all Australians I graciously accepted the cheer from our tour group.

The Neptune Pool itself is magnificent. Fed by mountain water, lined with marble, it is surrounded by ancient Greek sculptures imported and restored for this sole purpose as well as new artworks commissioned for the project. It would be hard to pay attention to finishing your laps in this pool.

Russ told us that once a year the staff at the ranch get to swim in the pool and take 3 friends with them. He mentioned this, he said, just on the off chance that any of us wanted to be his friend. It's nice to see that retired diplomats stay corruptible even after they leave the service.

As beautiful as it is, I don't know that I'd actually want to swim in the pool for very long. Although William Randolph Hearst had the money to keep it heated, the State of California apparently does not. I bet it's freezing.