HEARST CASTLE NOW OPEN FOR TOURS.

Advanced reservations are recommended. Face coverings are not currently required but strongly recommended.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Holiday Twilight Tour

This special seasonal tour showcases abundant holiday decorations

Discover why the holiday season was an exceptionally festive time for Mr. Hearst and his guests. Share in the splendor as you wind your way through the grounds, Casa del Sol-guest house, and the grand social rooms of Casa Grande. This special seasonal tour showcases abundant holiday decorations with numerous Christmas trees, including two towering trees. View Mr. Hearst’s celebrated art collection in the warm glow of thousands of holiday lights. Your knowledgeable guide will share stories of holiday festivities during the estate’s heyday.

The Holiday Twilight tour will be offered on select nights from November 25th through December 30th, 2024.

Changes to tour date or time: no additional charge if made in advance. A non-refundable registration fee per ticket will be charged for cancellations. Modifications or cancellations must be made at least 1 hour prior to your tour time.

Physical Requirements

The Holiday Twilight Tour is 75 minutes long and includes approximately 190 steps, both up and down, and 2/3-mile walk. Two Accessibly Designed Holiday Twilight Tours per evening are also available for those who may have difficulty standing and walking for extended periods of time. It is wheelchair accessible.

 

 

Visit the Grounds

House C: Casa Del Sol
1
Assembly Room
2
Billiard Room
3
Refectory
4
The Kitchen
5
Theater
6
Roman Pool
7
  • 1 House C: Casa Del Sol

    Referred to as “House C,” the formal name of this cottage is “Casa del Sol” – Spanish for “House of the Sun.” Experience the Moorish design from southern Spain, including a deep entrance court and round-arched windows, in addition to the two small towers decorated with openwork balcony screens.

  • 2 Assembly Room

    Gather in the grand social room on the ground floor of Casa Grande just as W. R. Hearst’s guests did decades ago for cocktails, conversation, and to meet their host. Admire the magnificent room’s walnut paneling,  Renaissance and Baroque tapestries and masterpieces of neoclassical sculpture.

  • 3 Billiard Room

    The Billiard Room was a popular spot, where guests could relax and play both billiards and pool. This room is decorated with a variety of gaming themes, but it also boasts a 15th century Spanish ceiling painted with scenes of courtly life, in addition to a Flemish tapestry from 1500.

  • 4 Refectory

    Mr. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan named the dining room after the word for a monastery’s dining hall. Its high windows, bright silk banners, and gleaming silver candlesticks convey the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, but the mustard and ketchup bottles show that Mr. Hearst liked to keep things informal at his ranch.

  • 5 The Kitchen

    Explore the enormous kitchen where all meals were prepared for Mr. Hearst and his vacationing guests. The kitchen itself is full of practical devices—including stock pots, industrial-sized mixers, and early refrigerators—which stand today just as they did decades ago. Admire the Monel countertops, a metal alloy of nickel and copper with trace amounts of iron, manganese, carbon and silicon.

  • 6 Theater

    The Theater is where W. R. Hearst and Hollywood film star Marion Davies joined guests every night to watch a full-length movie and newsreel. Today, as a guest of the Castle, you’ll be able to view historic Castle footage with moving images of Mr. Hearst and his guests.

  • 7 Roman Pool

    Located where you board the bus to return to the Visitor Center, the intensely decorated indoor Roman Pool is the perfect place to stop and relax. Modeled after ancient Roman baths, this meticulously detailed, majestic pool is tiled from ceiling to floor, and features marble copies of eight ancient Greek and Roman deities and athletes.