Friends of Hearst Castle

News and Press Releases

No Place Like Home: Friends of Hearst Castle
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1943 visits Hearst Castle for an 'Enchanted Evening'. Castle fundraiser features rare flight reminiscent of last time W.R. Hearst left.
In a bow to 1940s history and modern-day fundraising, the 1943 C-47 “Gooney Bird” plane with 19 passengers aboard lumbered briefly under the fogbank, making a perfect landing on the 4,400-foot-long paved airstrip on the Hearst Ranch in San Simeon.

The passengers, some in costumes from the 1920s-1940s, had taken the short, historic ride Saturday afternoon from Paso Robles to the Friends of Hearst Castle’s 12th annual “Enchanted Evening” event at the former estate of powerful, enigmatic media magnate William Randolph Hearst. Read More...

A flight of fancy fundraising.
The Cambrian reports on Enchanted Evening, 2011 Read More...

Recently NBC's Matt Lauer interviewed Los Osos author and Hearst Castle researcher Victoria Kastner on the "Today" show.
Kastner and photographer Victoria Garagliano collaborated on "Hearst's San Simeon: The Gardens and the Land", their second book about media magnate William Randolph Hearst's former estate, a state park since 1958. The book describes how and why Hearst brought the art and feeling of Renaissance Spain to the Central Coast area he loved so much. View the Video at MSNBC.com

Amaaaazing! Huell Howser to spread some California Gold on Friends of Hearst Castle's Enchanted Evening Benefit.
San Simeon, CA, August 28, 2009 - Attired in a old fashioned bathing suit, Huell Howser, host of Public Television's California's Gold and an avid fan of Hearst Castle and supporter of California State Parks, dove into the story: The successful bidder of the coveted Neptune Pool private swim party for ten invited Howser to take the dip of his lifetime.

Hooked on the experience, Howser is serving as the affable emcee of the September 26, 2009 Enchanted Evening, when once again a Neptune Pool swim and other phenomenal Hearst Castle adventures will go to the block to support Friends of Hearst Castle, a nonprofit organization dedicated to art preservation and education. Encore offerings are joined by new auction items, such as this year's South African six-day photo Safari in recognition of the wild animals in residence at "the ranch", now known as Hearst Castle.

"I'm very excited about the evening," says Howser. His popular, long- running PBS show tours California exploring its many treasures. "I want our stories to reveal the wonders of the human spirit and the richness of life in California, including its history, people, culture and natural wonders. The stories Hearst Castle tells are truly inspiring." Full of surprises, Howser adds, "And, I had always dreamed of swimming in the Neptune Pool." Read More...

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"Hearst Castle", "Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument",
"La Cuesta Encantada", and "The Enchanted Hill"
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