November 2012
On a ridiculously hot day in November (I'm talking in the mid 90's people - for those of us adapted to Monterey weather, that's HOT!), after an expedited amount of field work at Fort Hunter Liggett, my coworkers and I stopped in at the Hearst Hacienda to check it out. We were informed on the way through the gates into the Cantonment Area that photos were not allowed and we were to proceed directly to the Hacienda. Yes sir. We did just that and asked the very nice receptionist if we could see one of the rooms. She was kind enough to show us a couple different rooms, which were all very simple and quaint, with nice views of the surrounding lawns. She then proceeded to take us around the property, showing us the old pool and a long lawn area that overlooked the grasslands and surrounding hillsides. The pool is empty, but the base has a pool that guests of the hacienda are allowed to use. She also showed us the bar, which is open to both the military and the public, and what I think was a conference room. They both had really beautiful murals about the history of the area. And that was pretty much it. No frills. The receptionist told us that Hearst never actually stayed at the Hacienda, but used it only when he would go hunting on his surrounding lands. I'm not really sure I would ever want to stay there, unless I had a reason for a secluded romantic getaway weekend or something. There's not really much to do and it's quite a ways away from everything, so not exactly a good spot to use as a base for exploring the area. But it is a really neat piece of history and I'm glad we took the time to stop in. We also took a bathroom break at the Mission San Antonio, which is somewhere I will definitely return to to explore!
Since we weren't allowed to take any photos, here's the Wikipedia site for more info.
