Celebrities and Socialites Raise Funds For Restoration At Eighth Annual Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation Benefit Weekend

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Category: Benefits, Galas, Social Events

Published on Tuesday, 25 October 2016 08:13

Written by Janet Walker

The pristine coast of San Simeon, California was the unparalleled setting for the eighth annual Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation Benefit Weekend hosted by William Randolph Hearst’s granddaughter, Anne Hearst McInerney and her husband, novelist Jay McInerney.

The eighth annual benefit weekend was held to raise funds for the Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation (HCPF), a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and restoring the historic Hearst Castle, which was donated to the state of California by the Hearst family in 1957.

Patricia Hearst Shaw and Victoria Hearst joined their sister Anne, along with a diverse group of guests who traveled from far and wide for the occasion. From San Francisco came Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation Chairman Joseph O. Tobin II, Kathy and Gregory Hampton and Dr. Alan Malouf. 

From Pacific Palisades, CA came Justine and Robert Bloomingdale, from Lompoc came famed winemaker Greg Brewer, of Brewer-Clifton and Hilliard Bruce vineyards, who generously donated wine for the entire weekend, and Sonja Magdevski. From Los Angeles came Wendy Stark and Paula and Tony Peck and interior designer Trip Haenisch with Diana Lands. 

From New York City came renowned fashion designer Zang Toi, Debbie Bancroft, George Farias, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Alison Mazzola, Sylvia Mazzola, Jamie Figg and famed lens-man Patrick McMullan.

From Denmark came Remar Sutton, and from London, hedge fund manager and owner of Huntsman Savile Row, Pierre Lagrange and Ebs Burnough. Also in attendance over the weekend was skincare king Peter Thomas Roth, actress Brooke Mueller, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Sharon Bush and Wendy Stark.

The weekend also drew a younger crowd, including Anne Hearst McInerney’s children Amanda Hearst (and her pup Finn, of Friends of Finn) and Randy Harris, Jay McInerney’s daughter Maisie McInerney, Patricia Hearst Shaw’s daughter Lydia Hearst, real estate mogul Josh Flagg and model Bobby Boyd, Natalie and James Bloomingdale, Kick Kennedy and Ken Howery.

Friday night, guests were greeted at the Castle with a champagne reception on the South Terrace thanks to Nicolas Feuillatte and a fashion show from Zang Toi, as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. The reception was followed by a legends of the silver screen-themed dinner in the famed Castle Refectory.

After dinner, guests danced the night away under the stars on the Castle’s Main Terrace to a backdrop of the Casa Grande and the tunes of The Brian Nova Quartet, that included Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Tom Scott, a founding member of The Blues Brothers Band.

On Saturday, guests participated in an array of activities including a coastal tour to view endangered elephant seals, kayaking in San Simeon Cove, a walk to San Simeon Point led by Hearst Castle Historian Thomas Brown, a tour of the Castle lead by Museum Director Mary Levkoff, and rare opportunities to play tennis on the Castle courts and swim in the Roman bath inspired Roman Pool. 

Lunch was served at the Piedra Blanca Rancho Bunk House, part of the Hearst Ranch, where cowboys and cowgirls on their horses surprised guests with a roping demonstration and adorable Hearst Ranch puppies.

In the evening, guests attended the “Patrón Cowboy Cookout” at the Hearst Ranch Dairy Barn where they enjoyed free-range grass-fed and grass-finished Hearst Ranch Beef, washed down with Patrón margaritas and followed by a Tex-Mex hoe-down to music by Brian Nova and his Buckaroos.

The evening ended with spirited live and silent auctions for a private dinner party for 12 guests at Casa del Mar, one of Hearst Castle’s guest houses, a bespoke suit courtesy of Huntsman Savile Row, London and many other donated items. Guests also made art conservation pledges to restore three limestone and alabaster mantelpieces and a damaged Art Deco jar.

The Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation’s primary mission is to help preserve and restore Hearst Castle’s twenty-five thousand artifacts so that millions of visitors can continue to enjoy this unique state park as it provides financial support to the entire California State Park System.

Images courtesy of the Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation Benefit, Anne Hearst McInerney and Jay McInereny, and used with permission.

Pictures of the event are available via www.patrickmcmullan.com.

You can review weekend highlights via @HearstCastlePF and #HCPF2016.

More information on The Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation can be found at www.hearstcastlepreservation.org