Volume 31

It’s the largest private home every built, worth almost $300 million — and it’s still not finished. Compared to that “little something” built by newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, the $60 million mansion owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates looks like servants’ quarters.

It all started in 1919 when Hearst inherited a fortune including 60,000 acres near the small whaling town of San Simeon, California. The 56-year-old wanted to build a home on what he called The Enchanted Hill, and he spared no expense.

For starters, the site was in the middle of nowhere and 1,600 feet up a rocky slope. Undaunted, Hearst put in a paved road,, enlarged the local pier for ships carrying construction materials, and built dormitories for workers he brought in from hundreds of miles away.

While architect Julia Morgan worked on the plans, Hearst spent millions on trainloads of antiques to furnish the mansion’s 165 rooms, including 19 sitting rooms, 56 bedrooms and 61 bathrooms. He was especially fond of building into his concrete walls the “architectural fragments” he found around the world; things like ornate windows, carved ceilings, intricate mantles and decorative chimneys. To this day, thousands of items lie unopened in their original packing crates.

In the end, the mansion was a mishmash of styles Hearst saw during his travels. There was no continuity and it didn’t help that he often tore down entire sections on a whim and had them rebuilt. Still, his castle drew the elite, ranging from actors Charlie Chaplain and the Marx Brothers to aviator Charles Lindbergh and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. On the Enchanted Hill, guests could swim in indoor and outdoor pools, play golf, tennis or billiards, watch movies in an elaborate theatre, stroll 127 acres of exquisite gardens, or watch exotic animals in the world’s largest private zoo.

In 1947, the ailing multimillionaire moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his doctors. When he died four years later at 88, his castle still wasn’t finished. His heirs wanted to sell it, but nobody could afford it. Finally, the estate was given to the State of California which now runs it as a tourist attraction.

That testament to one man’s ego and excess is not so very far removed from the misguided materialism most of us bring into our lives. It’s just a matter of degrees. In a society where we’ve been blessed beyond measure, we’re seldom content. Though we’ve inherited our Father’s fortune in the spiritual realm, our pride and need for approval often lead us to imitate Absalom, the rebellious son of David who “built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley”(2 Samuel 18:18)

Sometimes that monument is a home and all the toys that go with it, or a career, or some other position of power and prestige, perhaps even in a charity or the church. But whatever the trappings, those who build extravagant, empty lives are always trying to fill them, without success. Nothing seems to satisfy, even when our creation is the envy of others. We’re constantly on the hunt for something new and something more, tearing down and starting over, every time we don’t like the way things turn out.

It’s no wonder there’s no moral unity or continuity in our lives when we’re constantly trying to build into our own situation what others have. That’s why, on our own Enchanted Hill, we resort to distraction. We keep busy and oblivious to the inner emptiness and, when it’s all over, our legacy still isn’t complete.

Rather than emulate the modern-day Absaloms of this world, we should imitate King David who built a temple to the Lord. “Who am I, and who are my people, that we should give anything to you,” he said. “Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you’ve already given us! Our days on earth are like a shadow, gone so soon without a trace... I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. (1 Chron. 29:14, 15, 17)

By Rick Gamble. Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe to this free weekly article, send a note to Rick at sgamble@bfree.on.ca