William Randolph Hearst built his California Hacienda in 1922, asking future San Simeon Castle architect Julia Morgan to design it as a working ranch house. Hearst enjoyed the place so much that he kept it after he finished his “little something” at San Simeon, building a private road between the two houses. Like his famous Castle on the coast, Hearst’s Hacienda is open to the public, but there’s a difference. At the Hacienda, you can spend the night, in the same place where the famous millionaire and his glamorous friends partied and slept in the 1920s and 1930s.

The scale and ornamentation of the Hacienda are more comfortable and intimate than the Castle, but this not a simple ranch house. Architect Julian Morgan designed it in an elegant, uncluttered style with mission-style arches, creating rooms for the ranch’s cowboys and more spacious accommodations for Hearst and his friends.

Hearst sold the ranch to the United States Army in the 1930s. The Hacienda is now inside Fort Hunter-Liggett, and operated as a hotel, open to the general public. The Hacienda, (831) 386-2446, has four tower rooms (suites with queen-size beds), 2 garden rooms, and 5 cowboy rooms with shared baths. Besides the opportunity to stay overnight at Mr. Hearst’s house, the Hacienda’s Bar offers a place to relax, and the Hacienda Restaurant, where Hearst once entertained his movie star friends, serves good, inexpensive meals.