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Issues & Ideas: A tour of the historic Hearst Ranch headquarters

Hearst's old ranch headquarters on Hunter Liggett Army base circa-1940
Credit U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett
Hearst's old ranch headquarters on Hunter Liggett Army base circa-1940

William Randolph Heart’s old ranch headquarters was constructed in 1930.

Located a mere 11 miles as the crow flies from Hearst Castle. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan’s classic, Moorish/Mission Revival structure, dubbed the Hacienda or Milpitas Ranch House, was sold to the U.S. Army in 1940.

The Hacienda initially served as operations headquarters for Fort Hunter Liggett until the base facilities were constructed in the dawning days of WWII.

Today the Hacienda remains as a treasured historic icon on Army base tucked in a remote valley in the Santa Lucia Mountains in southern Monterey County adjacent to Mission San Antonio.

Come along and join correspondent Tom Wilmer and Lisa Cipolla, historian and Cultural Resources Program Manager at Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett for a tour of the Hacienda and tales from the past.

Hearst and his friends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Marian Davies, Will Rogers, and Errol Flynn would come to party at the Hacienda. Today you can book an overnight stay in one of the historic rooms where the ranch hands bunked or maybe choose a romantic getaway in Marian Davies old upstairs suite.

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art

You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR Podcast travel show Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer via: 

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Culture Editor @360magazine

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Credit SATW Foundation
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013

Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.
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