Parks: San Simeon Revisited

State parks are not primarily intended to pay their way; their earnings are measured in the pleasure and recreation they give their visitors. But one California park now comes close to accomplishing the unusual feat of turning a profit: the Medicean headquarters that Press Grandee William Randolph Hearst began erecting at San Simeon in 1922, and which had grown to over 100 rooms when he left it at the outbreak of World War II. To create his dream castle, Hearst spent more than $30 million just in furnishing "La Cuesta Encantada" (the Enchanted Hill), equipped it with a private...

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