when we think of william hearst we imagine his castle in california but what about his other
homes hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are exploring wyntoon a bavarian style
fantasy village in mccloud california make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an
exciting episode of this house william hearst was best known for growing a media empire in building
the hearst castle which we covered in a previous video but the story of his bavarian village
in mccloud california starts with his mother phoebe hearst after her husband passed away she
was looking for a fresh start somewhere secluded and relaxing with natural beauty surrounding her
she found an extraordinary attractive land in the cascade mountain range and signed a 99-year lease
immediately she began building a seven-story castle which would be completed in 1904 which
perhaps inspired william to build his own castle later on phoebe employed two architects to realize
her vision julia morgan and bernard maybach they drew inspiration from the nearby conifer trees
covering the house and shingles exaggerating its height with long vertical elements it sat right in
the bend of the river with trickling water echoing from its blue volcanic stone the interior of the
home boasted exposed timber beams gothic arches and massive stone fireplaces it was accented by
flemish tapestries hung on the walls as we can see here in the assembly room the dining room was more
rustic with exposed stone walls set below timber crossbeams the floors were finished out with
oversized wood planks the walls were decorated with tapestries trophies and artifacts from the
waiting tribe who once lived on phoebe's land and became the namesake of the estate in 1919 phoebe
passed away from the spanish flu while visiting her hacienda she left wyntoon to her niece
ann flint this enraged her son william hearst who tried to buy it for man but she refused to sell
william attempted withholding artwork from her but still she would not sell finally william tasked an
entire team of lawyers with taking the estate for man which they did in 1925 and received 198 000 as
compensation or the modern day equivalent of about 3.3 million dollars in hindsight this was actually
really good for anne because the castle and all of its contents were lost to fire in 1929 without
a house on the scenic property william began planning a 61-bedroom castle to take its place
but the great depression was just starting and the man with a seemingly endless fortune had to
cut back on spending he hired julia morgan to come back to the site and reimagine the land without
a castle he sent her to germany to research architecture for one year and when she came back
she proposed a bavarian-style village consisting of four homes following the riverbend they would
all be arranged in a semicircle around a central fountain with a lawn growing between the conifers
in 1934 the village was completed and william was offered the chance to purchase the land instead of
leasing it so he did of the houses on his estate was the half-timbered brown bear house which was
covered in colorful murals between the timbers in this photo we can see a fountain featuring a brown
bear with her cub climbing on her back as well as bears worked into the murals decorating the facade
walking inside the door was ornately carved with pointed arches receding in layers above it all
set below hand-carved beams the staircase rounded out along the wood paneled walls leading to a bay
window at its landing bisque statuary decorated the new post with niches set in the room's corners
for displaying larger statues on the other side of the circular drive was the cinderella house
containing a clock in its central gable with bay windows transitioning into pointed towers
as they rose from the second to third floors the cinderella house was also decorated with murals
between its timbers depicting fairy tales as we can see cinderella below the clock racing to her
carriage while wearing just one glass slipper the outbuildings on the property included the
senior staff swiss chalet and a river house which had been built with a cantilevered deck above
the river the bridge house an homage to phoebe's original home was covered in shingles and set on
the opposite side of the river the smallest house was known as the nerve center where telegraphs
and telephone calls would be received by three full-time staff members as the great depression
raged on william lost control of his company and wyntoon was assigned to a board of trustees who
charged william rent when he wanted to stay there visiting only a few times before his death in 1951
today wyntoon continues to be controlled by the hearst corporation and is enjoyed by william's
descendants as private property thank you all for watching i really hope that you enjoyed this video
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