Dark History - 80: A Nepo Baby’s Hollywood Castle: America’s Billionaire King William Hearst | Dark History with Bailey Sarian

Episode Date: March 29, 2023

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. We’ve talked about William Hearst on here before. He is one of the OG Nepo Babies. On top of being born into wealth, he pretty much ran the newspaper industry so he was rolling in it. And one of the big things he spent his cashola on was his house, nay his CASTLE. Oh yeah. In today’s episode, we are talking about Hearst Castle. No surprise here, but the story behind a castle in California is juicy and I have been dying to share this one with you all. Get ready to hear all about this nepo baby’s pimped-out crib. Episode Advertisers Include: High Strange, OUAI Haircare, Ship Station, and Stitch Fix US. Learn more during the podcast about special offers!

Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my study and to my podcast, Dark History. If you're new here, hi. This is a chance to tell a story like it is and to share the history of stuff we would never think about. All you need to do is sit back, relax and just let me ramble and tell you about that hot, juicy history, goss. I need a red bull injection. Okay, so maybe if you're new here or not, or what I've talked about, herst castle so many times, you've heard me mention this castle over and over again, because it's always just fascinated me.

I mean, a castle in California? Ah, growing up, I thought the only royalty we had here in California was like Ronald McDonald. But when you approach this gigantic property, the castle starts to emerge on top of the hill and it just gets like bigger and bigger and bigger and then you see the whole thing. It sounds like I'm being nasty. And then you see this whole thing like this big mysterious beautiful castle. It's just overlooking the ocean. We get you thinking like what is the deal with this place? Why isn't here? So you can actually

tour the property which I was so excited about? So you can actually tour the property, which I was so excited about. So while I was on the property, I could hear the like waves crashing and there was this fog surrounding me. I mean, the place just had this mystical vibe. I mean, I had to know more. Like who lived here?

It seemed to me like it was some kind of evil villain or maybe it was just actual royalty. Well, turns out there is indeed a man who may not have been royalty, but he was the kind of guy who created an entire castle for himself just because he thought he deserved it. Well, and because he's like, I can. Boof for you. A castle that would go down in history as one of the most notorious party spots in America. I mean, this castle was filled with millions of dollars of stolen art, Hollywood megastars, illegal booze,

or geez, and exotic animals from all over the world. I'm talking about herst castle. Burp, burp, burp, burp. As we can see, we have Joan here. If you can't see, Joan is dressed up in her. She's going to the bowl. She is going to some kind of bowl. She looks fabulous, girl.

You really went all out for this. Good for you. She's feeling real good after that boob job. Don't blame her. And the man who created Hurst Castle, ah, his name, William Randolph Hurst. Now you might remember him from our yellow journalism episode that I did last season, but overall,

he owned a bunch of newspapers and was essentially one of the creators of Clickbeat and that naughty F word, fake news. Yeah, he like started that. But he wasn't just good at stirring the pot to sell newspapers. This guy was like a professional at spending money, and I mean, he had this castle to prove it. And if you were anyone of great importance, you would get an invite. Jeff Allen, who was a tour guide at Hearst Castle for 30 years, said, quote, there was an old saying in Hollywood that there were two groups of stars, the ones

who had been to Hearst Castle, and the ones who had said they'd been to Hearst Castle. Okay, like, I mean, he could give us a little bit more, like, give me all that hot gossip. So, vague. If you don't know, Hurst Castle is enormous. And the buildings are over 80,000 square feet on the inside. It's essentially a tourist attraction now. And you might even recognize it

from Lady Gaga's music video guy, where she's dancing around like a really fancy pool with a bunch of hot guys I think. I can't remember, but I remember the pool. Yeah, that was at her castle. But back in its heyday, it had its own zoo, and that pool I mentioned, well it fits 345,000 gallons of water, and is surrounded by Roman columns and expensive marble, but to understand

why it exists in the first place, it's important to understand the guy who built it. So let's get right to the source of young William's trauma. He had mommy and daddy issues. Yeah, we're just gonna start off with that, like it wasn't just one, it was both. So young William was born into a wealthy family and lived quite a privileged life. I mean, it was all thanks to his dad, his name was George George Hurst. So George, he was born into poverty and barely litter it. And he just really struggled growing up. His life would change when he struck gold

while actually silver. During the California gold rush, which happened in the late 1800s, he found a buttload of silver, an amount that equaled $3.3 million in today's money. So he was set. George's wealth set him up for like the life he had always wanted. He goes on to own a bunch of businesses, and he even gets elected to the US Senate in

1887, and he gets into the newspaper business. Now owning a newspaper, especially at this time was a very big deal. I mean, people first of all actually read the newspaper back then. You know, it was all they had. That's how they got all of their information. And owning it put you in control

of the conversation being had, the narrative. This man, he grew up in poverty. He couldn't read, he didn't really have anything going for him, and literally hit the jackpot. I mean, many think of him as like the definition of the American tree, coming from nothing and ended up with everything. Untalking servants, multiple properties, he's living comfortably. And it's just so ironic that a man who couldn't read owned newspapers. Right? I think maybe he could read by then. But there's no information about that. George ends up falling in love and marrying someone from his hometown. A teacher named Phoebe,

also his distant cousin, oh, hi. And in 1863, they had their only child, William Randolph Hurst. Now, George was a bit of a workaholic, so growing up, William's spent most of the time with his mother. And then the two of them would go on bougie little mother, sun, euro, trips that would end up lasting like a whole year. They toured castles throughout Europe, went to the

world's most famous museums, and studied their architecture. So, William, I mean from a very young age, was very cultured. I mean right off the bat, he knows what good art looks like, he knows good architecture, these trips were his core memories. So when William did spend time with his dad, it would be on like one of the many plots of land the family owned. And one of these purchases was 48,000 acres in a place called San Simeon, a town a few hundred miles away from Los Angeles in California. It honestly looks like a little storybook village like just right by the ocean. Oh, it's on the Pacific coast. It's so pretty. You gotta see it.

Now, George didn't really care about building anything on this land. He just kind of liked having it. So a little William and his family spent time there camping. But it definitely wasn't like an everyday person type of camping. George had these really big World War I army tents erected by his servants on one of the hills that looked out at the ocean. So these tents were like the size of a whole apartment, and they actually were set up around the entrances to the house.

So even though there was a house, they got to tell themselves that they were roughing it, they were campers. They were essentially glamping, which is like, hey, did they invent glamping? Maybe. But this was just the way William grew up, like it was his normal. And when if the biographies written about him, it was said that William didn't even know that poverty existed, because he spent so much of his time in his mom's little kangaroo pouch. He just kind of walked through life thinking everyone was a millionaire. And everywhere William went, I mean people treated him like a frickin' prince because of the Hurst family

reputation for wealth and power. Even when he went with his dad to meet the president of Mexico, Young William knew that the ruler was, quote, in his father's pocket. And, well, in all this, gave William a real privileged rich boy attitude that he would carry with him for the rest of his life. I mean, during his time at Harvard, because of course he went to Harvard. He would throw keggers right out in the open on campus. You know, not afraid of anyone. I mean, he's like my dad's a senator.

Who's gonna stop me? And William wasn't just partying. He also just was a big fan of pranks. Ugh, pranks. He would even send chamber pots, which are like little ceramic potties. Yeah, they're little ceramic potties. Okay, and they're called chamber pots.

And he would send these to his professors with little paintings of the professors inside the bowl, which like some people were like, ooh, what a diss. And I'm like, I'm not sure if it was a compliment or not, but I mean, why don't you want to shit on your own face? I kind of want to. I'll be like, all right, thank you.

I go, I go, okay. Then in 1885, he pulled one prank too many and finally got expelled. But that didn't mean anything to him. Well, you know, it was an over for William. After college, he gets into the newspaper business just like his dad, and he ends up taking over the San Francisco Examiner.

And it turns out he's actually really good at it. He knew like it didn't matter if what he was printing in his newspaper was true. It just has to be juicy in order to sell. So here's an example of one of his headlines from February of 1898. It said, quote, crisis is at hand. Spanisch treachery. Like, just yelling at you, because it's like all caps.

It's like, oh my god, chill. And then quote, the spirit of war pervades the breasts of all Americans. I don't know, I guess he was just really good at stirring the pot, and this in turn made him a fortune, and gave him a lot of, get back to our story. By the early 1900s, William was essentially controlling the media. Around this time, William also had a bit of a reputation as a stage door Johnny. I know I was like what's that? But it's basically a groupie for Broadway shows. But it wasn't because he appreciated the art of theater. It was there because he loved him some show

girls. This is actually how he met his wife. Stage actress Millicent Wilson. He waited for her on the side stage door, smoking a shake, just waiting to take her out on a hot date. Even though he was in his 30s and she was 16, William has his eye on the prize and he ends up marrying Millicent and they end up having five kids together. But pretty early on in their marriage, it's very clear that William, he didn't want to give up his playboy ways. Like we've learned here many times before, divorce wasn't really an acceptable thing for quite some time, so Millicent moves to New York to live her life, and William stays in California to live his, but they remain married, so you know that's gonna work out.

And honestly, in my book, what a dream, perfect marriage. Around 1918, William began a relationship with another woman. Many people consider his actual like life partner. Her name was Marion Davies, who was also a young actress. He definitely had a tight, okay? He just liked that new car smell, you know what I'm saying? Meanwhile, William's daddy, George, dies,

leaving his entire fortune, properties and papers, all to his wife Phoebe, not William. Not getting this money drove William crazy. I mean, George left everything to his wife Phoebe, not William. Not getting this money drove William crazy. I mean, George left everything to his wife because William had a reputation for being straight up reckless with his money. And he's like, but I have big dreams. And I'm a grown-ass man, that's not fair.

He finally got it all on April 13th, 1919, when a nasty influenza epidemic arrived in the US and took out his mom Phoebe Hurst. Now Phoebe left a legacy as a very charitable, likable person, especially in California. She also left 56-year-old William Hurst, everything. Her art collection, the family fortune of $10 million, which is like $172 million in today's money, countless other properties, including that campsite in Stan Simian. William and his mom were extremely close, so when she died, he was devastated. But also,

he was kind of like Loki happy, because now he had total free reign of the family fortune. Woohoo! He's like, I waited for this! But in 1919 everything changes. He turns to a family friend and one of the most talented architects of the time, Julia Morgan. Julia, Julia, Julia, she was a bad bitch. She was the first licensed female architect in the state of California, round of applause. Great. And she had an amazing career even before she started working with the herds. She was the perfect person for William to collaborate with to spend all that money he just inherited. So William's goal was to create one of the greatest buildings in America, something people would remember him by. So William goes with a lamb that's been in the family since he was a kid, that campground.

He told Julia, quote, I get tired of going up there and camping intense. I'm getting a little old for that. I'd like to get something that would be more comfortable. And, well, he apparently wanted the decorations to be tasteful and simple, but pretty soon after construction started, William did what he does best. He let the power go all to his head. And because he was the one signing the checks, I mean, people listened.

He turned the sand, simian land into a mega property. The property was located on a huge hill which overlooked the ocean and had beautiful gorgeous views. On the hill, he built four houses and five guest houses. The main house was called Casa Grande and it was 68,500 square feet and had a total of 115 rooms. Yeah, that's a lot. We had 38 bedrooms, 30 fireplaces, and 42 bathrooms. So plenty of places to take a crap in peace, you know, that's nice. That is nice. When you need that quiet bathroom right? I guess they sat in those rooms. Any room could really be a sitting room if you just try hard enough.

Then there were three guest houses on the property. They had a total of 46 rooms, including lobbies. Yes, they had guest houses with lobbies. The castle also had three chefs, three butlers, and tons of servants. There were two swimming pools, the Neptune pool, which was outside, and the indoor one, which was called the Roman pool. And the way her castle is decorated, it was just all over the place.

The main house is in a Spanish style, but most of the guest houses are Mediterranean. It's very maximalist. Yeah, he's one of those those for sure. And then something else I noticed when I went toward the castle, you can tell William planned out every single detail on the property. I mean, it's something from the most beautiful movie you've ever seen. It's so gorgeous. William did a lot of art buying like paintings and sculptures and has been reported that he spent about $1 million dollars a year on art. I mean, the guy even brought an ancient sculpture from Egypt and no idea how he got that,

which very questionable. And honestly, well, sadly, it's just not surprising. It's like rich person 101 behavior. Steal from Egypt. I bet you he was one of those weirdos snorting mummy powder. But the reason he did all of this was because he wanted a hers castle to be special and not just the art hanging inside. So he hired an art dealer named Arthur Bine, who had connections

all over the world, especially in Spain. He was known for having under the table dealings because of things that he would buy for William. They weren't really things that were for sale. Bine would swoop in and buy up pieces of buildings from the war wreckage in the Spanish Civil War or one of a kind art deco cathedral ceilings from Spain. And if Arthur couldn't get entire pieces of a building, he would just look for, let's say, a piece of a Roman column. And then he'd put on his bob the builder hat and recreate the rest to just match it. Look like it, you know? Which is why some of the buildings at Hurst Castle look kind of like

a mismatched puzzle. It's fun though, I like it. William even said, quote, I know it is partly made up, but it is effective. End quote. I mean, honestly, all you have to do is squint a little bit and everything matches when he squint. It looks like it matches. You won't even notice. Now, my personal favorite part of her castle has nothing to do with the art or the five million rooms. Well, I kind of love all of the bathrooms.

That's comforting. Anyways, but it's something that William had put on the property that really set him apart from other castles in history. Back then, Hurst Castle was home to California's largest private zoo. William loved animals, especially the ones history. The zoo at Hurst Castle was called the Hurst Garden of Comparative Zoology. Sounds very official. So, his zoo was home to over 300 animals.

In the fields around the property, you would find animals grazing peacefully next to each other, like antelopes, exotic types of deer. There's llamas, kangaroos, ostriches, eemous, sheep. You name it, it was probably there. And like I said before, it was all in the details for him. The right up to her castle is like this law, it's not long, but it's it's kind of long. It has law turned so because you have to like go up this hill. He put in feeding cages for animals like grizzly bears, cougars, chimpanzees along the way. As kind of like a little sneak preview of things to come, there were some flashier animals like drafts, lions, tigers, and elephants, and they would be enlarged, fenced in habitats not far from the main part of the castle. So guests

could like walk right up to them, be like, look, I'm touching an animal, Earl, Earl, come look at me, I'm touching this. That's what they were really therefore. Come look at me, Earl. So William even named an elephant after his long time lover, Marion. But she was apparently pissed off to be sharing a name with an elephant. Marion, but she was apparently pissed off to be sharing a name with an elephant. Fowl it. William also had this ape named Jerry that the guests love to mess with. They throw a rope into his habitat and start playing tug of war with him. Not ideal to do, you know. William said he wanted his guests to feel as though they were driving through an area populated by quote,

interesting and exotic animals in their natural state. In cages. Oh, that's funny. If you really wanted that, I don't know. Like, you know, don't bring them to the castle. You know, okay. But all right, sure. The hers were basically like the Rockefellers of the West Coast. I guess he saw this castle as a sign of status, but not even the Rockefellers could top the circus that was partying at hers' castle. William would host extravagant events

and wild parties inside the castle walls. There would be the luxurious bedrooms, the pools and the over the top everything, just would really set the stage for party hosting. Now, all of these rooms weren't just for looking. I mean, this place was like Candyland for the rich and famous. It was a real life great Gatsby situation.

William, like mentioned before, was a bit of a, um, control freak, maybe a diva, but he needed exactly everything to be the way he wanted it to be. I mean, even coming down to his guests. Now, every castle he went started with a guest list. Sometimes it was 40 people on a quiet weekend, and sometimes he could go balls out and would literally invite hundreds of people to just go off, and William was a control freak when it came to the whole who he was associated with. Like, if you were in, you were in, and if he didn't like you, you were out by... people had to be invited to her castle by King

William himself. So, an invite was much more than just a typical Friday night dinner at the Olive Garden with your Aunt Barbara. An invite to the castle was like a badge of honor to anyone invited. I mean, even Hollywood stars. It was a sign that you made it to the like this cool inner circle. And William would just like handpicked the guest list and then send out invites one of two ways. Like he would either call you up or there'd be some kind of classy handwritten note. So if you got one of these coveted invites from William either call you up or there'd be some kind of classy handwritten note. So if you got one of these coveted invites from William, girl, it was like welcome to the tippy top

of the social food chain. You made it, welcome. VIP section, write this way. In these invites and in general, William always referred to the castle as the ranch, which was so weird because it was obviously a castle, not a ranch. Like, what kind of ranch has 30 bedrooms and 40 baths? I've never seen those on a zilla. Well, well, okay anyways, this would be considered an example of William wine to come across as like a

normal salt of the earth kind of guy who just didn't have every opportunity in life served to him on a silver platter. A ranch was humbling, a castle sounded to over the top, which is what he wanted, but he wanted to appear humble, very confusing man. Now most people wouldn't dare RSVP know to a castle invite, one because who would pass up on an opportunity to hang at the castle? And two, people knew that William was Petty, Catherine Hepburn, an iconic actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood. One time she got in invite and like nobody knows why, but she'd had to turn down the offer, okay? And

it was a decision she had regretted because after that, he ghosted her and she never received another invite again. She was like, oh shit, sorry William, but like he just doesn't forget. But 99.999999% of the time people RSVP'd yes without thinking twice. And these invites weren't a casual like come by whenever a situation. William was very specific about his invites. The events would always start right on time on the dot, and if you were a good guest at dinner, a lot of the times your invite was open-ended. Now this technically meant that guests could stay as long as they wanted, but the thing is, some Hollywood stars they tended to stay a bit too long for Williams' liking.

I mean, hello, why would they want to go back to their boring mansion? They just want to stay there with the animals. Look, Earl, I'm touching an elephant. I mean, why would you want to leave that? It was said that the longer a guest overstayed their welcome, the further their chair got from William at dinner time. Once the person's chair was at the far end of the table, I mean, as far as possible from William.

And that was the castle's way of saying, pack your bags, bitch, it's time to kill. Get outta here, skim. The castle's official guest list over the years, I mean, was enormous. And it was bananas. How many megastars love to go there? Charlie Chaplin, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable,

Greta Garbo, Carrie Grant, ah, they all partied at her's castle. Then there were the powerful heads of studios who showed up like Jack Warner, the head of Warner Brothers, and Louis B. Mayor, who was running MGM. So many saw it as like the perfect opportunity to network, obviously.

But William wasn't just a Hollywood cloud chaser. I mean, his newspapers and radio stations gave him global influence. So I mean, he was buddy, buddy, with some big name politicians, like US President Jennifer Coolidge. Just kidding, Calvin Coolidge. Calvin Coolidge.

Oh, and that British guy, he was friends with a Winston Churchill. Yeah, he's like, no big deal, whatever. We're like chill. Okay, so what did one of these coveted weekend getaways look like at the castle you asked? Ugh, let me tell you, usually they were hosted by William and Marion, who was essentially his wife at this point,

but not in the eyes of the law, especially because militant. She was still living up in the East Coast, looking at caviar off her fingers and in no rush to get a divorce, right? For her, now William and Maryan did their best to try and keep seeing us classy within the party. Okay, so a bunch of people would come over for the weekend. When guests would arrive, they'd be escorted by a butler to the library or like one of those millions of sitting rooms. And if he wasn't too busy,

William would swing by, say hello, sometimes help the people settle into their guest bedrooms, you know, so there was always a lot going on at all times. But anyway, some weekends were on the more, you know, relaxed aside, relaxed at the castle had a very different definition. For example, if you wanted morning coffee, the only place you could get it was at the buffet,

which was in the main house. And William didn't want people to lay in bed all day. So when meal time rolled around, guests had to show up promptly at the schedule time, which is like not bad at all. That's not really asking. It's like you're staying at my mansion. At least you could do a show up to breakfast. Bitch. Okay. Now after everyone ate, guests had a few options. They were

like a variety of things you could do. If you're one of those sporty people, you could play tennis because they had this huge grand tennis court, which was right next door. Or you could go down to the private beach for a private stroll. Or if you felt like having just a relaxing, but bougie morning, you could drive around the property in a flashy car that had a chauffeur ready and waiting to take you around and show you the world. Some guests would hang back and play board games or can puzzles with Marion, she loved to puzzle. William was also a fan of taking ridiculously long horse rides around the property. He would do like eight hours crotch on a saddle, shaping, oof. One movie director remembered

that he was forced into a horse riding, where William took everyone through the mountains and the director described it as sadistic. I mean, I guess he didn't have a good time. But who's gonna complain to the guy that's paying for everyone's weekend getaway, you know? I'll bounce on a horse for eight hours, acting like everything's fine and dandy, I'll suck it up. Now let's get back to today's story, huh?

Before the main event, people had to report for pre-dinner drinks exactly at 7.30 p.m. in the assembly room where the mudda was about to took place. Sounds like a game of clue. But just because it was like a dinner at a fancy palace didn't mean there was an open bar. Guests would be allowed one martini before dinner, and it would purposely be very weak. Nobody could get a good buzz off of it, and some people would get a second martini if they secretly chugged the first one.

This is all because William had a thing about drinking too much. I guess because growing up, his dad was a big time alcoholic, and I guess someone else in his life was as well, Marion. So he's obviously a little sensitive about people getting, you know, swasted. And also since he's controlling everything, the one or two martini rule made sure he wouldn't have to see people drunk. Honestly smart, you don't want people sloppy around your fancy place throwing up in bushes and shit, but it made a lot of people upset because it's a party. And then when 9 p.m. rolled around,

it was time for the actual dinner. And everyone would gather in the grand dining hall. The grand dining hall looks just like the dining hall from Harry Potter. I'm at least told this. I still haven't seen the Harry Potter's. Don't come for me. But I've been on the ride so I get the gist of it. Okay. I even took one of those tests to see what house I belonged to and it was like,

I belonged to like Huffin Puff or something. Let me know. Slither hen or something. I'm Huffin Puff. Anyway, so the dining hall looked just like the Harry Potter ones, okay? And it's all like, what? Grand. And all 40 guests could like easily fit in this dining hall. Now if you're having dinner on this relaxing weekend at the castle, you'd probably get some classic American steakhouse food. They would have prime rib baked potatoes. Mm, mm, mm, mm, what a string beans.

Ooh, mm, mm, finishing off with an apple pie. Yes, daddy, I will take that, you know? After dinner, everyone headed to the castle's private movie theater. William would usually force everyone to like watch one of Marion's movies that she was a star of. Yeah, you know, yeah, you're one of those people and you're like, okay, we fucking get it. And people there may have been thinking, like, finally, some spicy love scenes, which, wrong, because William had any spicy love scenes, completely edited out of the movies,

because he would get uncomfortable watching them around other people. Which I kind of get that. It's like that first time you watch an R-rated movie with your parents and then, like, oh no, there's a Titty and it's awkward and you're like, what do I do? Like that.

Now, as I dug more and more into William and his castle, the more I was like, oh, you know what? This is a reminder of my super sweet 16. Yeah, remember that show? I mean, think about it. The spoiled brat is just playing with Daddy's money and telling everyone how to be. Like, no, I wanna do a horsey right now.

And then like, everyone must watch my favorite movie. William is definitely a character for my Super Suite 16. But anyways, Gloria Vanderbilt, a famous socialite whose family we talked about in the Guilted Age episode, has a great quote about life at the castle. She said, quote, life in this historian empire is lived according to the disciplinary measured laid down by its dictator. End quote. Okay, go off, Gloria. Go off. And Gloria's point. Herst Castle had some very

specific roles. Rule number one, no drunkness, which is weird because he did have like a stalked wine cellar during prohibition, but fair. Rule number two, no bad language or inappropriate jokes, which again is a little strange because William's own newspapers were pretty questionable. And the best one of all number three, no sexual relations between unmarried couples,

which also is kind of funny because you see, William was literally disrespecting his marriage while his wife is living in New York. So, okay, all of his rules did not apply to him, obviously. Knowing all that information, guests kinda looked around and were like, eh, these rules are a little hypocritical, no? But William insisted people had to live by them as long as they wanted to sleep over in the castle. And the real reason why people wanted to put

up with all that noise is because it allowed them to go to the most exclusive events, at the most exclusive property in all of America. He would throw these like huge costume parties and hundreds of people would attend. And I mean, they were a favorite at the castle. Many people wanted to see celebrities and politicians just acting all goofy. I mean, that's why I'd want to go. But whenever the reason, they loved these damn things and went all out for them. Some of the biggest ones were the covered wagon, aka Wild West theme, which is fun. Another asked a guest to come as their favorite historical figures, Charlie Chaplin went as Napoleon, but one of the more strange themes was babies. All the guests

were told they had to come dressed as babies. I know, you're probably picturing bonnets, binkies, booties, and bibs. And when you realize William was around his early 70s at this point, just wonder if he was walking around the castle and a giant custom diaper. Like, is it that kind of baby? What else kind of baby can I be? But the biggest costume party they threw out the castle

went down in 1937, where Mary and planned a very detailed theme party for Williams' 74th birthday. The theme of the party was circus. I know, my favorite Britney album, where by you? To really drive home the theme in case the entire private zoo wasn't enough, an entire wall of the castle was ripped out so they could bring in a whole merry-go-round. And then after the party, they rebuilt the wall as if the merry-go-round had always been there. Marion and William weren't happy with people just showing up in their own cheap, they spirit-holowy outfits. Every party featured real movie costumes that were driven directly to the castle from Hollywood

studios. And these outfits weren't just like truck there and dumped wherever. Expert costumers from the studios would go up there with them to help the people get dressed. And a few sources say that William would go through all the costumes and hand to pick what every guest would wear. Yeah, that's a little weird. Linda, you're going to be a slutty polar bear this year okay Kenneth sexy snake alright sweet 16 now if you think these costume parties were lacking drama oh you'd be wrong first of all think of all the personalities at these events their actors and actresses all they know is drama so everyone thinks you know they're the bell of the ball, and everyone wants to make their own statement, including Norma Shearer, who was a huge actress at the time. Norma was invited to

a costume party that was all American themed, but Norma was like, hmmm, okay, I have a better idea though. So she came dressed up as Marie Antoinette. The last queen of France before getting her head shopped off, so you see, she was playing Marie in a big Hollywood movie and thought it would be slick to wear the actual movie costume to the castle. The gown was so gigantic that the backseat of Norma's car had to be taken out to fit in, serious commitment. And at dinner, it took up four chairs.

Now, this was like a big middle finger to William because for one, he had just been kicked out of the entire country of France just before this. The New York Times headline said it was for quote, hostile actions, end quote, but that was all I could find. And the other reason this was a dig was because Norma beat Marion out to play Marie and Swannette in the very movie she was starring in. Ooh, it was petty. She was like, oh, what, you are supposed to play Marie?

That's so funny. Because I got it instead. It was cold. Drama. I guess you just had to be there. Wild. I was a fly out in the wall. I was there Going back in time and the drama at these parties continued because not everyone followed the castle

Three now. Let's get back to today's episode So Marion, you know, while she was seated next to her little boo-boo William I guess this one time a big old flask had just Fell out of her purse and it was like filled with gin, which, hello, sin, William clocked it, and he was not happy. But Maryam played it off. She leaned over to William and was like, hey honey, how do you like my new perfume?

And he did like a little sniff sniff as she scooped up the flask and tried to cover it, you know, secretly trying to hide that it was her own flask. Apparently Maryam would scheme with other guests and strategize ways to keep heart-licker secret from William. There's always one who does that. The plan they came up with was also kind of gross, but genius.

Marion and her pals and other naughty guests would hide booze in different bathrooms, but not like in a cabinet under the sink. They would hide the good stuff in the frickin toilet. Yeah, I don't, I look, in my mind, I don't think it was in the actual bowl. I think it was probably like in the tank itself with the water set because I couldn't imagine someone playing alcohol and with pee, right?

That makes no sense, right? Anyways, but they were doing that. And we looked, there was almost 50 bathrooms. No one's gonna find it. Take Howard Hughes, for example. Now, among other things, Hughes was a world famous pilot, director, producer, American businessman, and he was also a nepot baby just like William.

Some of you may remember that Leonardo DiCaprio played Hughes in the movie The Aviator and that movie was also based on a book called Howard Hughes, The Secret Life. Now in that very biography, we get a very juicy story about some things that happened at the castle that William would not have approved of. Hughes and his best friend Ben were both known in Hollywood as free spirits who just like did whatever the hell they wanted, whenever they wanted. Now these two guys would head out in LA,

they would pick up young ladies, go back to Benz and get a little freaky. And I'm not talking like you're standard missionary. These boys were having all types of fun. For sums, I full towering, rusty trampones, just all over the place. So one weekend, Hughes and his buddy were invited for a nice stay at the castle.

So they drive up there, they settle in. But instead of an eight-hour horseback ride with William, these guys were looking to do reverse cowgirl for about eight hours. As we have learned, castle parties are like the place to be seen, especially if you're an aspiring young actress who wants their big break. And old Howard Hughes knew this, so when he and Ben got to the party, they had their pick of gorgeous women just willing to do whatever they wanted.

So the four of them went upstairs and the clothes just came off, and they would just go at it. Now according to the book, they said the only thing that interrupted them were the roars from the lions and the tassels' private zoo. I know, like, shut up, Mufasa, you're gonna give this away. And it all got to the point where it seemed like the guests were just kind of messing with William and totally ignoring the castle rules,

like they're mocking him. I mean, he used to be a prankster, this William guy. But as he got alter, he didn't really fancy pranks anymore. One time,po marks a famous actor comedian whose first name spells Oprah backwards. Funtak, broken to the castle vault stole a bunch of mink coats and decided to dress up the statues all over the property. Now I guess they had rained that day, so all those pretty furs had gotten ruined and when Williams saw this, oh, Mr. Super Suite 16 William was pissed. To be fair, I mean, he- When you'd be pissed if all your expensive furs got ruined from the rain? Anyways, he got even more pissed when he got pranked by Carrie Grant. Grant with the help of Williams' son

made his way into an airplane, most likely on William's private airfield. He loaded the thing up with sacks of flour, like cooking flour, and then he took off. As he flew over the castle, Grant dropped the sacks of flour, like bombs all over the property. I'm not sure why he did this, but honestly, I think it's hilarious. I'm not drunk, William. William did not think this was funny. By the time Grant got back to the castle, he found his bags were packed and waiting for him at the front door.

Ooh, you pissed her off. Now, allegedly, William kicked him out and Grant wasn't the only one to get the boot from the castle. Dorothy Parker, who was a famous cultural writer, got kicked out of the castle for having one to many cocktails. And then there's David Niven, who was an Oscar-winning actor. I don't know how William found out,

but apparently David had a stash of hard liquor under his bed. And as soon as William found the stash, he threw David's ass out. By 1937, the parties weren't over. William was spending cash like a freaking maniac for so long that it finally caught up with him. Some experts report that he spent nearly $50 million on his art collection alone. Then another 50 million was spent on New York real estate, which at any other time in history would have been very smart, except that this happened during the Great Depression, and his real estate investments were tanking.

And he hung on to the newspapers that were losing him millions of dollars every year. When all records were put together, Williams' horrible money management became very clear, and Alarm Bells went off. His company had 125 million dollars of debt and some experts say that his personal debt was bigger than some countries at the time. Then when World War 2 broke out and the US Army goes to William and gives him a serious warning, they say, hey, your property is very close to the Pacific Ocean, which means it would be really easy for the Japanese to bomb your location. Maybe take your party's elsewhere?

I don't know. And William listened. He and Marion ran off to safety on the East Coast, while all these Hollywood stars should stay put in Los Angeles. After the war ended, William and Marion went back in 1945 and picked up where they left off. And he was doing what he did best, more construction on the castle and losing more money. His son's pleaded with him to stop.

I mean, they were just watching their inheritances, just go down the damn drain. But in 1947, because his heart was in such bad shape, William and Marion left the castle for the final time. They moved into a house in Beverly Hills, where William lived until he died in 1951 at the age of 88. Marion didn't go to the funeral of her lover out of respect for William's wife, Millicent, which is just, you know, okay, sure. I think that's a one-time you would probably show up, but I don't

know who am I. William's will was 125 pages long, and it gave instructions on what to do with all of his real estate. Herse Castle was given to the state of California, but the interesting thing is that California didn't accept the gift for three years. Then on July 2, 1958, the Herse Castle officially opened as a museum. After they tore down the private zoo back in the 30s, they let some of the animals just go free on the land. And if you visit to this day, you can see descendants of the castle's animals

in the area, especially Zebras. They're hanging out along the highway near San Simeon. And to me, that is the most poetic ending to all of this. The animals live on, but there isn't one descendant of William in sight. I guess the whole reason I wanted to do this episode was because I've been to this castle, and naturally I was like, tell me more. Ah, because it's so random. It's so random. There's a castle in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere. But again, like when I did some research, it was like, ooh, this is quite the story. I mean, the costume parties, the sneaking of booze,

all the fun. There's this guy who had like everything a person could ever want, but he was just never satisfied, kind of, how these stories could always go, right? It just seemed like William was never truly happy. And he kept working on the castle because, I don't know, it's probably better than working on himself. He was the castle, and the castle was him.

And we need his identity was the castle. Yep, deep. Here's an insane stat. If William were to build the castle today in 2023, it would cost right around $700 million. And that's just the building. If we include all the decor, it would probably be valued at over a billion dollars. I know, just to think it's wild that in the United States, a country that was created because we didn't like being ruled by a king. This guy wanted to make himself a king. Snaps.

Well, everyone, thank you for hanging out with me today. Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions. Take it the whole story because we deserve that. I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story, or let me know if you've visited Hurst Castle before. So make sure to use hashtag dark history over on social media so I can follow along. Also, join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs, and while you're there, also don't forget to check out my murder, mystery, and makeup.

I hope you have a good rest of your day and you'll make good choices. And I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye. Dark History is an audio boom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junior McNeely from Three Arts, Kevin Grush, and Claire Turner from Made in Network. Writers, Katie Burrers, Alison Filoboz, Joey Skluzo, and me, Bailey Sarian.

Shot and edited by Tafad Swah, Nema Roondway, and Hannah Bacher. Research provided by Exander Elmore and the Dark History Researcher team. I especially thank you to our expert David Nassau, and I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. Thank you. Thank you. Say bye, Joan. You look like such a pretty little princess. Okay, sorry, Paul. I've been ignoring you, but I don she a little bit.