I love California. See also (underneath the mansion)

Wow. Never gone there. If we're driving up the coast, we need to do that.

Not as carsick as I used to get, but still probably too much of a factor right now.

"I love California."

Virginia is to be preferred under nearly all circumstances.

Except right now, as it's pretty sticky.

And it was really cold last winter, especially around the beginning of the year.

And this past spring was rainy as hell.

I guess that leaves autumn.

See also (underneath the mansion) ~ Crid at August 10, 2018 3:49 AM

Well, if we're showing off tacky rich guy houses, North Carolina can get in on that competition. Although, George built his monument to conspicuous consumption before the outdoor pool became de rigueur, so Willy wins that round.

I love California. See also (underneath the mansion) ~ Crid at August 10, 2018 3:49 AM

I did, too. A family emergency dragged me out. However, to be honest, it was getting to be an expensive and exhausting proposition to live in California. The boom or bust economic cyclicality can erode one's mental and physical health. One year, I'm doubling my income, the next, I'm dipping into savings. It's definitely an E-ticket ride.

Beautiful shot.

San Simeon is a profoundly idiosyncratic Depression-era construction at the locus of perhaps the greatest collection of personal wealth the world will ever see. "Tacky"

Also, humidity sucks.

I mean, wouldn't you describe Biltmore as a desperate, cloying attempt to conform to the stylings of tasteless asswipes from centuries and oceans away? And in an entirely uninspired setting, to boot.

Make mine San Simeon.

Amy, take drugs and go. It will change you feels about California to know that that's there and that happened. There's a beachside hotel I can recommend.

I mean, wouldn't you describe Biltmore as a desperate, cloying attempt to conform to the stylings of tasteless asswipes from centuries and oceans away? And in an entirely uninspired setting, to boot. ~ Crid at August 10, 2018 11:22 AM

Perhaps, but didn't William Randolph Hearst bring to California ceilings, art, antiquities, and architecture from Europe in "a desperate, cloying attempt to conform to the stylings of tasteless asswipes from centuries and oceans away?"

Speaking of cloying, "Biltmore" is much less pretentious name than "La Cuesta Encantada" ("The Enchanted Hill"). Even Heast found that name a bit much, preferring to use "the ranch."

Being from here, originally, I wouldn't call the mountains of North Carolina "uninspired" although, with many formative years spent in Florida, I have come to enjoy coasts more than hills. And, yes, humidity sucks.

As for the setting, the grounds of Biltmore were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the same guy who designed the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University, as well as co-designed Central Park.

Both houses are monuments to men who, to paraphrase Ann Richards, were born on third base and thought they hit a triple.

At least George was never implicated in a murder or accused of starting a war. Nor did his granddaughter join a terrorist organization and rob banks. Instead, his great grand-niece inflicted ugly jeans and Anderson Cooper on the world. As such, both men have much to answer for, besides grandiose moments to conspicuous consumption.

Wow! THAT is inside this?

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=la+city+hall&FORM=HDRSC2

I never would have guessed it. While not the ugliest building from the outside; it sure isn't my taste in architecture.

But the inside is gorgeous!

> but didn't William Randolph Hearst
> bring to California ceilings, art,
> antiquities, and architecture from
> Europe in "a desperate, cloying
> attempt…"

Well, yeah, sure. But his guest list was exclusive! Chaplin! Niven! Others!

So I seriously think a collection of wonders like San Simeon ought not be belittled as "conspicuous consumption,' and am certain you regard other snooty bitchings about historical contexts to be similarly misplaced— 'Yeah, but Washington owned SLAVES... How could such a person have moved the human project forward in any way???'

It wasn't that conspicuous. And it wasn't grandiose until you'd been invited inside, and almost no one was. It was a five hour coach ride from SLO, and that just got you to the nearest beach... You still had to get five miles up the hill. He owned the surrounding 256,000 acres, so it's not like there were lots of lookieloo passersby. Despite the kingly promontory, the buildings were a playful hodgepodge, unimpeded by the Biltmore's harsh military symmetry & church-y intimidation. Hearst 'Castle' is flatly incomparable to any construction on the planet: It doesn't bother to prove things to people who aren't there, which it why we need Amy and Gregg to make a weekend of it.

"Consumption" is just not a word anyone cared about in those years. Rich guys had a lot of stuff; no one was worried that they were claiming resources that would best have gone to feeding the indigent in Indonesia. He was a rich guy. Our obsession with the word is a fashion to be expected as the millenia and vast prehistory of human poverty are, so very lately, being washed away.

I don't remember the story, but a friend once told me that Anderson Cooper had seen some shit. Not sure I'm asking for the memory to be refreshed... But it was enough to make me think he was probably a forgivable goofball so long as I never watched more than three seconds of his idiot broadcasting in any calendar years. It's worked out for both of us.

Year (singular), and close the boldface thereafter.

Sorry

I love California. See also.

But his guest list was exclusive! Chaplin! Niven! Others! ~ Crid at August 10, 2018 8:16 PM

Yes. Yes. It's not really a contest as both estates were glamorous for their day, but they occupied different eras with different sensibilities and aesthetics.

For their day, those East Coast mansions hosted their share of glamorous celebrity guests with plenty of glitz and style. Newport, Saratoga, Jekyll Island, Palm Beach and more were the "it" destinations for the rich and famous at the turn of the century.

Gimme Cali, then or now.

Look to the sunset and dream, y'all.