Inside The Castle: A Look at Rock Hudson’s Iconic Former Home
Explore The Castle, a stunning estate once owned by Rock Hudson.
Rock Hudson lived in many places throughout his life, but it was in his “Castle” that he felt most at home
“My house is the only place where I have privacy. Outside of here, everything I do is watched and commented on, but once I enter these gates I can relax and let go. I love working around the house: knocking down walls and putting up bricks. And for complete relaxation there is nothing like gardening. When I have to make decisions about my career and solve problems of interpretation, I like to go out into the garden and sweat a lot. Where are my shears? My rakes? I dig the earth, water the plants, scatter seeds, sometimes pull weeds for hours, and I am completely lost in my thoughts. If I had to choose another career, I would certainly choose landscape gardening.” (Hudson, 173).
In his authorized biography, we have a description of what his home was like for 23 years until his death in 1985. The actor initially rented the house located in Beverly Crest in 1962, but soon fell in love with it. However, he did not have the money to buy it. The solution came from Universal, which offered to renew his contract and buy the house valued at 167 thousand dollars, which would be transferred to his name five years later. After much consideration, he decided to accept the offer, and then embarked on a major renovation that would be completed only months before his death.
Passionate about architecture and landscaping, he bought several magazines on the subject and copied several models of Mexican mansions. This included planting trees and laying out hand-painted tiles. The gardens were filled with trees and flowers. Taking care of the gardens was one of the actor’s most enjoyable activities. There was also a 42-meter swimming pool with a jacuzzi, where he could entertain friends. The patio also had a barbecue area that could easily accommodate 100 guests.
The front door was made of carved wood with Mexican tiles. Inside the U-shaped house, the color red, the actor’s favorite, was predominant. Animal statues, large candlesticks, fur rugs, and heavy Spanish wooden doors gave it a heavy and exotic atmosphere. Although extremely dark during the day, the house was also cozy at night, when he would light his fireplaces and candles.
All the bedrooms had a name and themed decorations. There was the “Encounters Alley”, “Tijuana”, “Texas” and “Portugal”. All of them had views of the sculpture park made by Mexican artist Victor Salmones. Rock Hudson’s was entirely blue. His gigantic bed had a sculpture of a naked mythological being as a headboard. There were no doors between his bedroom and the bathroom. The latter, by the way, had a huge bathtub where the actor could relax with a view of the city.
Rock spent a lot of time in his room, but he also liked to have fun in the games room, which was equipped with the most modern equipment of the time: a radio, VCRs, large-screen televisions, a projector and a huge film library. He also collected records and had some rare 78-rpm collections.
Rock lived alone with his seven dogs in the Castle. Occasionally he would open his doors to a boyfriend or friends. To keep up appearances, he had two telephone lines: one public and one private.
His funeral was held in the house, which after his death was sold to Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft. Paul carried out a major renovation in 1992. Rock Hudson only opened his doors to the press a few times. That’s why it’s hard to get photos of the inside of the house. Most of the photos show the living room and the outside. Check it out:
Rock gave an interview to Laurence Gavron in 1984. The actor welcomed him into the pool. Check out the video:
In this video you can see some photos of the renovation:
Source HUDSON, Rock, DAVIDSON, Sara: Rock Hudson: História de sua vida.
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