The main dining hall at the castle, my favorite room. The dining room, called the Refectory, resembles the style of the middle ages, as did much of the castle with Roman sculptures and architecture.

The long dining table accommodated the many guests regularly invited to the castle. Each setting was arranged for multiple courses and wines.The formality of the Refectory and dining table place settings was contradicted by the always present mustard and ketchup bottles on the table.

The stories explaining the use of the condiment bottles and jars rather than condiment serving dishes mostly revolve around speculation of William Randolph Hearst's idiosyncrasies.

The dining table was originally from a Spanish church. Mr. Hearst loved to converse with people and decided that this narrow table would be great for sparking conversations. He would always sit in the middle with the newest guest. Consequently, as you stay longer, you move closer to the end of the table, and people joked about that it means you are overstaying your welcome when you are at the end of the table. In fact, one of the guests joked about being in the hot seat where he lost more calorie from the heat then he took in at dinner because he was so close to the fireplace.