Central Coast News

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

KCBX | By Tom Wilmer

Published April 26, 2018 at 4:49 AM PDT

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CLassic Moorish and Mission Revival influences abound at the classic- Julia Morgan designed Hacienda

Thomas Wilmer

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Archway leads to the old cowby quarters where they'd bunk down for the night

Thomas Wilmer

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The Hacienda was disigned for entertaining as as a ranching business-- Hearst and his play pals would barbque and listen to live mariachi bands performing from an upstairs balcony

Thomas Wilmer

Julie Morgan's Hearst Hacienda, with original cactus in the garden is one of the least visited of her seminal work lexicon

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Julie Morgan's Hearst Hacienda is one of the least visited of her seminal work lexicon

Thomas Wilmer

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.