Postcard from Hearst Castle

If you were lucky enough to be invited for the weekend to Hearst Castle, there were four rules that had to be obeyed:

1. No telling of off-color jokes or using of bad language

2. No getting drunk

3. No eating in the bedrooms

4. Unmarried couples had to sleep in separate bedrooms

Of course we are talking about the 30’s and 40’s. Way back then, the double standard for men and women was scrupulously maintained…even in the master’s 3rd floor suite.

For much of his adult life, William Randolph Hearst had a mistress: film star Marion Davies. She was a beautiful woman and the couple were devoted to each other. If they could have married they would have…but Hearst was already married and his wife, being a good and devoted Catholic, refused to give him a divorce. Obviously this was before California’s no-fault divorce laws.

Mrs. Hearst never visited the castle, probably because Ms. Davies was a an ensconced fixture there. She was the lady of the house. It is said that they were only in the same room once…at some event in Los Angeles. The story is they never acknowledged the other’s existence. Figures.

It would have been fun if Mrs. Hearst would have shown up at the castle unannounced at least once. What would William do? But she never did, although she had every right to, according to the mores of the day.

But, true to the double standard (and in case she ever did show up), Hearst and Davies maintained separate bedrooms…even though they were right across the hall from each other. Since there is a dress on the bed in this photo, this is obviously Ms. Davies bedroom (although it could easily be mistaken for J. Edgar Hoover’s bedroom).

But when the lights when out at night at Hearst Castle, all was fair in love and war…if you get my drift. Ain’t love grand? But you damn well better not bring a ham sandwich into the bedroom for a late night snack.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

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