The most beautiful room

Throughout my art and architectural history education, I've always heard of the most beautiful room in the world. The pictures are famous, we've all surely seen them: the Roman Pool at San Simeon.Hearst had the indoor pool created between 1927 and 1934 for guests who didn't want to use the now equally famous Neptune Pool which was outdoors. Sadly, most guests chose not to use the indoor pool as its' location was a bit out of the way, located far underneath the tennis courts which were already much lower than the rest of the hilltop estate.The pool still went to good use though, the servants were granted permission to have the pool at their disposal. Some perk! Above is the diving platform. Light streams into the space from a skylight above.The room and pool were styled on the Baths of Caracalla in Rome while the blue and gold mosaics were based on the 5th Century Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy. Windows line the room on 3 sides with shaded views of the surrounding mountains while the 4th side (seen in most of these photos) leads to different exercise rooms. Eight copies of ancient Greek and Roman statues were started in 1930 by Carlo Freter in Pietrasanta, Italy in white marble to match the white marble lamps that line the room and estate.The pool itself has a deep flat bottom, perfect for diving, while the area underneath the diving platform becomes more shallow. Not a pool for beginners!The Venetian glass tiles are arranged in a mosaic pattern of marine sea monsters, a popular theme for baths in Roman times. Yes, the gold tiles are actually lined with REAL gold!I loved these white marble pool ladders -identical to the ones up at the Neptune pool. They're a bit more stylish than the stainless steel variety one finds now! Last but not least, the enormous tennis courts which fill the roof of the pool. I hope you enjoyed this opulent peak at the most beautiful pool I've ever seen!

Written permission was kindly granted to post my interior photos of San Simeon on this blog. Please respect that and do not copy without permission. Thanks!