Hearst Castle staffers, local businesses ready for reopening: ‘There’s a lot of excitement’
How did staffers at Hearst Castle gear up for the reopening the famed historical house museum on Wednesday, April 11?
The preparations ranged from mundane tasks such as dusting, sweeping, polishing and pruning to more sophisticated projects, such as making sure a 20-foot-wide, 17th-century Belgian tapestry was hanging straight.
There are literally thousands of artworks, artifacts and antiques in 80,000 square feet of rooms — ranging from a massive circa-1690 Spanish painting to heavy silver candlesticks that are taller than an average table lamp.
In truth, staffers have been doing those chores all along at the former estate of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst — even during a two-year shutdown forced by coronavirus pandemic precautions and crucial repairs to the access road.
During the prolonged closure, which began March 16, 2020, the workers were able to tackle a bunch of maintenance and repair chores that would have been difficult to accomplish with thousands of people touring through the San Simeon estate every day.
On Wednesday amid cheers and hugs, Hearst Castle finally opened to visitors again.
Hearst Castle staffers prepared for reopening, visitors
The Castle’s maintenance, collections and landscaping crewsweren’t the only ones gearing up for the reopening.
Some staffers verified that Castle websites and ticket-selling functions are up-to-date and ready to handle a wave of logons.
Security teams, who during the closure have taken shifts at a gate between Highway 1 and the driveway to the Visitor Center, also ramped up for the expected rush of visitors.
For more than two years, the guards had to turn away thousands of cars filled with disappointed people who had been unaware of the closure.
Day security team members Noah Snodgrass and Steve Brown were on duty Friday morning, May 6. Both men said they’d be glad when the Castle shutdown is behind them.
“We’re excited to have people back here,” Brown said. “People are why I took this job almost four years ago, but we’ve been closed to the public for more than two years” of that time.
“Hearst made this place to be enjoyed by people, and it’s been lonely here with just employees” coming through, Snodgrass said, adding that after nearly 10 years in his job, he’s looking forward to once again “see people from all over the world.”
He and his coworker said they’d be glad to “stop being keepers of the gate.”
SLO County businesses eager for opening
Meanwhile, employees of Castle partner firms were rechecking their long-idled buses to make sure they were ready to transport visitors — as many as 52 at a time —up to the hilltop and back.
Visitor Center staff were dusting, vacuuming, stocking shelves and the kitchen and confirming that equipment is ready for staffers to cook, brew and sell.
Away from the Castle, owners of several San Luis Obispo County shops, restaurants and hotels managed to regroup and do fairly well fiscally during the closure — at least as soon as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions loosened a bit.
However, some entrepreneurs closer to the Castle have had a tougher time keeping their doors open.
Mel McColloch, longtime president of the Cambria Chamber of Commerce, said Monday, May 9, that he expected the Castle reopening will have a “very positive effect, especially in San Simeon. Businesses there depend a lot on visitors to the Castle, especially those in the lodging business.”
He said the closure has had “some effect” in Cambria, too.
“There’s a lot of excitement about the reopening,” McColloch said. “We’ll be fortunate to have the Castle open again, and I hope people take the time to enjoy it again.”
During the pandemic, Miguel and Theresa de Alba, owners of the Manta Rey restaurant in San Simeon, had to cut back to being open just six days a week and operate with a drastically reduced staff.
With the Castle’s reopening, “we are super optimistic that business will pick up,” the de Albas wrote in a text message. “San Simeon Acres relies solely on the Castle, so we are hopeful that with things back up and running we will have a good summer. With the pandemic seeming to come to an end, we are hoping to see our international tourists return. Only time will tell, but we are very excited!”
Albert “Buddy” Varreto’s family built the San Simeon motel now called Coast Riders Inn and leased it out for decades. He was managing the property when pandemic restrictions were imposed, followed by a February 2021 landslide that closed Highway 1 for months at Rat Creek.
With the reopening of the Castle, he anticipates that the impact for San Simeon businesses “will be nothing short of tremendous.”
Varreto said he’s already seeing “great demographics about our travelers, with a lot of them coming from Europe,” and German visitors outpacing all the others. “I know from talking to these people that one of the reasons they were here was because they wanted to see the Castle … and they were disappointed” that it was closed.
“Now, we’ve got the triple play,” he said with excitement in his voice. “Highway 1 is open and in good shape; the Castle is open and in good shape, and pandemic restrictions on travel have been lifted.”
What did guides do during closure?
During the closure, Hearst Castle guides — who number close to 80 now — did everything from leading online yoga and exercise classes on the hilltop to scanning images for the digital film archive, working in the library and assisting groundskeepers and other departments that needed helping hands.
Some of those tasks were closely related to their normal jobs, Others were far afield, but essential.
“Unfortunately, the castle closed just when we were ready to celebrate our 100th anniversary,” guide and display designer Sharon Foelz said. “For me, it was bittersweet. … I missed giving tours, but I was fortunate to contribute in other ways.”
Foelz was tasked with designing various interpretive exhibit panels for parks, a multiple-use logo for the 100th anniversary, and a brand-new “Unsung Heroes” display for the Castle’s visitor center.
The three-panel exhibit features Castle architect and designer Julia Morgan, her staff and the builders and craftspeople who constructed the castle. The work required intense research, and Foelz said she learned a lot in the process.
She said she’s anxious “to have the castle open and go back to giving tours, especially the brand-new Julia Morgan tour, and be able to share some of that new knowledge with our visitors.”
Foelz and her fellow guides managed to stay in touch with Castle enthusiasts throughout the closure.
Their medium was social media, as they pivoted to produce YouTube videos, emailed newsletters and quotes, prepared and expanded online educational programming and more.
Their work was used as a positive example during a late April ceremony honoring endeavors that were receiving the governor’s awards for historic preservation. Castle staffers were honored for their work highlighting the new “Unsung Heroes” display and related social media offerings.
During a recent visit to the Castle, California State Parks Director Armando Quintero said, “We were struck by all the human hours in the creation of all the things you see at Hearst Castle.”
He added that modern-day efforts highlighting those creations “allow people to go back home and connect with the very things we’re here to celebrate.”
New Julia Morgan tour among offerings
Being able to communicate with potential Castle visitors remotely during the pandemic was a godsend, according to Museum Director Cara O’Brien. It kept the monument in front of the public and provided educational opportunities for students and their teachers.
That said, the excitement level for Castle staffers had been ramping up for weeks — ever since Quintero announced in March that May 11 would be the reopening day.
Nothing replaces the thrill of a guide being able to tell the monument’s story in person, O’Brien said, or the pre-performance jitters experienced every time that tour leader stands at the top of the outdoor stairs known as “Hello 1,” waiting to welcome 52 excited guests.
Then the guide spends the next hour or so explaining the history, art and magic of the estate known as La Cuesta Encantada, or, “The Enchanted Hill” — discussing the structures, lavish gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts and movie theater. During Hearst’s lifetime, it also boasted an airfield and the world’s largest private zoo.
Tours are a unique blend of entertainment and education, and some longtime employees say that providing the public with those experiences is as exciting for the guides and staffers as it is for the guests.
Those will be new experiences for the graduates of the two guide training classes held during the pandemic.
“We have guides who’ve never seen the public on the hilltop, and who’ve never yet given tours to those visitors,” said Dan Falat, State Parks superintendent for the San Luis Obispo Coast District, which includes the Castle.
They have, however, recently given rehearsal tours to other State Park staff members.
“It was a lot of fun and very helpful for all of us,” O’Brien said of her guide staff.
“We’ve all learned a lot during the shutdown,” she said, and, with the new tour, “it’s exciting to share those new details about Julia Morgan, the unsung heroes, Mr. Hearst and the Castle itself.”
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Hearst Castle staffers, local businesses ready for reopening: ‘There’s a lot of excitement’."
