The famous publishing magnate, William Randolph Hearst, is associated with the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. However, there is another famous piece of property that was associated with the Hearst family and this was originally purchased by Hearst's father, the miner turned millionaire, George Hearst. This other property was located forty miles east of San Francisco where George had a hunting lodge. After his death in 1891, his widow, Phoebe, added to the property and turned it into one of her homes. When she passed in 1919, William kept the place, but then moved many of the antiques to his home at the Hearst Castle. William then sold the property in 1924.

Around 1940, the 500 acre property was remade as a dude ranch, called the Old Hearst Ranch. It was always full and even had its own radio show called "The Dude Ranch Breakfast".

Most people think of dude ranches as a phenomenon where city folks from back East would travel to Western ranches on vacation where they could dress up and play cowboy. At these ranches, Easterners could participate in horseback riding, fly fishing, wilderness pack trips, hunting and helping with ranch activities alongside career cowboys.

However, at the peak of the dude ranch craze, many of these locations were far more than just ranches and were, in fact, multi-themed resorts that offered a variety of different vacation entertainments. This helped to provide something for spouses or family members that weren't as interested in traditional ranch activities and made for a more diverse vacation destination. The Old Hearst Ranch really promoted the tropical vacation aspect of vacation life and held regular luaus with tropically themed live entertainment and lavish dinners. They also had a huge swimming pool and visitors could spend their entire vacation going back and forth from the pool, to the Hawaiian Room, then partake of luaus held on the "Palm Patio", before heading back to their guest rooms -- all without ever going near a horse stable.

The Old Hearst Ranch's pre-tiki Hawaiian Dining Room was as well-appointed as any Hawaiian themed location in the mainland USA at the time. They usually served evening meals and were known for live entertainment and a hors d'oeuvre buffet line (or "relish" bar) that served various snacks and appetizers in wood Hawaiian monkey-pod dishes -- luau style. In postcards and photos, there can also be seen a large bamboo framed print of Frank Macintosh's "The Fruit Harvest" (1938) with its beautiful watercolor hula girls, which is commonly associated with cruise ship menu covers from that era. Brochures show they had Hawaiian themed murals done by Diego Rivera, depicting luaus as well.

Sold again, in 1952, the Old Hearst Ranch went through a few more owners but is today a country club, known as The Club at Castlewood.

Details

Type

Dining Room at Dude Ranch Resort

Address

Pleasanton, California, United States

Closed?

Yes (Permanently)