The Neptune Pool is an outdoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

ensemble at

Hearst Castle Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada (Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his archit ...

, in

San Simeon San Simeon (Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is a village and Census-designated place on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. As well as a large swimming pool, the terrace also includes fountains, ornamental pools, sculptures, marble pavilions, alabaster lanterns, dressing rooms, and a mainly reconstructed ancient temple facade. The Neptune Terrace, including its huge pool shell, are raised up behind massive retaining walls on the Hearst Castle ridge-line in the

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from t ...

. It is to the north and lower than the main Casa Grande and the guest house terrace, with vistas of the ranch, Point San Simeon coastline, and Pacific Ocean. In 2014, the pool was drained due to severe drought conditions in Southern California. The pool had been leaking and evaporating of water per day. Extensive renovations began in 2017 to completely replace the pool's tile base and fix the leaks which had plagued it since its construction. The pool was temporarily filled for the first time since 2014 that August to make sure the leaks had been repaired before the water was subsequently returned to the local watershed. In August, 2018 the pool restoration was completed and the pool was refilled. In 2019, the pool was opened to the public by purchasing tickets with donations which helps fund the castle’s art conservation and education programs. The castle was closed to visitors in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

History

Julia Morgan Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American architect and engineer. She designed more than 700 buildings in California during a long and prolific career.Erica Reder"Julia Morgan was a local in ''The New Fillmore'', 1 Febr ...

, the Neptune Pool with terrace elements was started in 1924. Albert Solon and Frank Schemmel of

Solon and Schemmel Tile Company Solon and Schemmel Tile Company (S&S) was a tile pottery business in San Jose, California from 1920 – 1936. The company's tiles adorn Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco and the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. Other projects included t ...

came to Hearst Castle to perform the tile work. The Neptune Pool was built and rebuilt three times, each version a larger size. After the 1926 and 1934 redesigns and re-buildings, it was finally deemed completed by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

in 1936.Hearstcastle.org: "Neptune Pool"
. accessed 10.1.2012

Scale

The Neptune Pool is wide except for the width at the primary axis fountain—alcove section, and the secondary axis pool length is . The depth varies from at the west 'shallow' end, to at pools' main drains. The fountains and pool are fed by spring water piped from the Santa Lucia Mountains, and the pool alone holds of water.

Architectural and landscape elements

Light-veined

Vermont marble Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the n ...

decorates the flooring and side walls of the swimming and ornamental pools, and the colonnades. The swimming pool is surrounded by

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

Revival and

Greek Revival style The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

pavilions and

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

s. The pool's main axis centerpiece and north terminus is elaborated from parts of the façade of an Ancient

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of Ro ...

that William Randolph Hearst had purchased in Europe and imported to San Simeon. It is symmetrically framed by the colonnaded pavilions as the secondary axis' west and east terminus elements. 17th-century Italian Neoclassical

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s are upon the sides of the colonnades. The 'Neptune' and 'Nereid' statues, first atop the cascade, were moved to present positions in the Roman temple's

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. New classical sculptures were commissioned by sculptor Charles Cassou. His 'Neptune statuary group,' planned from the late 1920s for a small cascade pool, was never installed. His ‘Venus’ was.

In films and on television

*The Neptune pool was used as the set for the entrance of Crassus' villa in

Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's ''

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...

''. *The

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

video "

G.U.Y. "G.U.Y." (a backronym for "Girl Under You") is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her third studio album, '' Artpop'' (2013). She co-wrote and co-produced the song with Zedd. It debuted on Italian radio as the album's third and final sing ...

" was shot at various locations at Hearst Castle, including the pool. Due to drought conditions and leaks in the pool, the Neptune Pool was drained in 2014. However, the pool was filled for the music video. *Featured by

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...

in ''

California's Gold ''California's Gold'' is a public television human interest program that explores the natural, cultural, and historical features of California. The series ran for 24 seasons beginning in 1991, and was produced and hosted by Huell Howser in colla ...

'' Episode 702

References

External links

Hearstcastle.org: "The Pools of Hearst Castle"
{{coord, 35.685675, -121.169173, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Gardens in California Swimming venues in California Buildings and structures in San Luis Obispo County, California Landmarks in California Buildings and structures completed in 1936 Greek Revival architecture in California Sculptures of Neptune 1936 establishments in California