Hearst Castle

Julia Morgan built a wildly successful architecture career during her lifetime. Her portfolio includes more than 700 buildings in California. Most may associate her name with her work on Hearst Castle located in San Simeon, California. Situated in the hills overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean, the castle was rightfully named “La Cuesta Encantada”, meaning “The Enchanted Hill”. William Hearst, for whom the castle was built, truly did make visiting the castle an enchanting experience.

Guests traveling up to the castle would pass through acres of land that held exotic animals such as zebras. An on-site zoo held grizzly bears, cougars, monkeys, and much more. Hearst filled the castle with art and artifacts from around the world and would even integrate architectural elements into the castle-such as the historic Spanish ceilings found in many of the rooms. Amusingly, Hearst had first told Julia Morgan the project would be relatively short and modest. What stands today is by no means modest-it is an exquisite show of breathtaking extravagance. The castle, as massive as it is, is under constant preservation efforts.

Spectra worked on the castle in 2014 to complete stone restoration at the window sills and door thresholds, stained glass restoration, preservation consulting, preconstruction documentation, and construction monitoring.

Scope of Work

Materials Restoration • Preconstruction & Design • Preservation Consulting • Self-Perform • Stone • Wood Windows