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Hearst Castle's magnificent main house, called Casa Grande, was inspired by a Spanish cathedral.

In 1919, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst inherited 250,000 acres of ranchland in San Simeon, Calif., halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. In his younger years, Hearst loved to use the land for camping trips, but feeling he was getting too old to "rough it," he told architect Julia Morgan that he wanted to build "a little something" on the ranch. His initially modest plans eventually became Hearst Castle, a palatial estate featuring 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways. The home was frequented by many famous guests in the '20s and '30s, including Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Howard Hughes and Winston Churchill. Now maintained as a state museum, the house conducts around 700,000 tours a year.

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