 Hearst first bought the monastery intending to replace the family retreat at Wyntoon , on the bank of the McCloud River near Mount Shasta in remote Northern California . The original building was his mother 's Bernard Maybeck @-@ designed fantasy chalet which burned down in 1929 . Hearst wanted to replace it with a great stone building fitted with towers and turrets — an eccentric castle folly that was to be larger than its predecessor . To prepare for the arrival of the Spanish stones , Morgan drew up plans with the monastery 's chapter house serving as the castle 's entrance hall , and the large church enclosing a swimming pool . Other stones were designated as cladding for walls and rooms on the ground floor . 
