Official Web Site of WR and Daisy - a musical about William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies

William Randolph Hearst (from Wikipedia)

St. Donat's Castle After seeing photographs of St. Donat's Castle in Country Life magazine, the Welsh Vale of Glamorgan property was bought and revitalized by Hearst in 1925 as a love gift to Davies. The Castle was restored by Hearst who spent a fortune buying entire rooms from castles and palaces in Europe. The Great Hall was bought from the Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire and reconstructed brick by brick in its current site at St. Donat's Castle. The road haulage work was carried out by freight brokers Holme & Simpson, later North British Transport Ltd. From the Bradenstoke Priory he also bought and removed the guest house, Prior's lodging, and great tithe barn; of these, some of the materials became the St. Donat's banqueting hall, complete with a sixteenth century French chimney-piece and windows; also used were a fireplace dated to c. 1514 and a fourteenth century roof, which became part of the Bradenstoke Hall, despite this use being questioned in Parliament. Hearst built 34 green and white marble bathrooms for the many guest suites in the castle, and completed a series of terraced gardens which survive intact today. Hearst and Davies spent much of their time entertaining, holding lavish parties, the guests at which included Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Winston Churchill and a young John F. Kennedy. Upon visiting St. Donat's, George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying: "This is what God would have built if he had had the money." When Hearst died, the castle was bought and is still owned and used by Atlantic College, an international boarding school.

William Randolph Hearst in 1906