Marion Davies Guest House

We are back at the Marion Davies Guest House in Santa Monica, where I dropped you all off on Monday. William Randolph Hearst purchased 4.91-acres of beachfront property so that he could build a "home" (if that's what you can call a three-story, 34-bedroom Georgian mansion) for his mistress, Marion Davies. She needed to be near Hollywood which is where she worked as an actress. Although the main mansion was torn down, the Guest House, designed by Julia Morgan (who also did Hearst Castle/San Simeon), still remains. This is where Marion's family stayed when they came to visit, so that they could be far from the Hollywood "riff raff" that often occupied the main mansion.



Here are new friends Mary, Melissa, and Gayle who all came out to California to celebrate Shirley Temple's birthday (more on this later). They helped arrange the tour that we took together of the Guest House.



What an entrance!



Pictures of Marion Davies were hanging in the foyer. For those of you who only know of Marion through the movie "Citizen Kane" which was loosely based on Davies and Hearst, you are doing her a terrible injustice. Although Orson Welles created a masterpiece, he forever caused the public to associate Marion with her very untalented fictitious movie counterpart, Susan Alexander Kane. In real life, Davies was known for her comedic talents, her kindness, and especially her generosity.



The living room was spacious and had a wonderful view of Santa Monica Beach.



A detailed view of the fireplace:



We all listened as tour guide supreme Elaine Cohen told us the story of Davies and the mansion.



Oh the view...



Looking back from the opposite side at the Guest House:



The dining room was gorgeous, and the shades were imprinted with vintage photos of Davies, Hearst, and various movie stars of the era.



We were told that this chandelier was Tiffany. However, I didn't see any blue box nearby.



And then we got to go upstairs.



I think I'll stop the story for now before I take you to the bathrooms, where I was in vintage tile heaven.

More Marion Davies Guest House photos at my main website.