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What’s $27,266 among friends?

If you’re Jay and Dana Hagan and a few of your closest friends, it’s the amount needed for an overnight stay at venerable Hearst Castle on California’s central coast.

The Kentfield couple and four other couples ponied up that much to win an auction last year for a two-day extravaganza organized as a fundraiser for the nonprofit Friends of Hearst Castle.

The Hagans and their friends began their ultra-exclusive visit with a private tour of the showpiece San Simeon mansion of former publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst. The day included an hour-long dip in the massive Neptune Pool, cocktails on the terrace, a round of billiards and a catered dinner.

The Hagans, who put up the largest chunk of money at a little more than $10,000, then took a moonlit stroll in the gardens before becoming the first members of the public to have a Castle sleepover in more than 50 years. Their friends were put up at a nearby luxury ranch estate.

“They put on an amazing show,” Jay Hagan, 51, CEO of DriveSavers, a Novato data recovery firm said.

“It was definitely a lot of money, but spread out over 10 of us,” he said. “They were really, really great hosts. We were pampered more than we were used to.”

Hagan said soon after he learned of the auction taking place in September 2008, he proposed the money-pooling idea to a group of friends who’d vacationed together for years.

“It was for a great cause,” he said. “All except one of the couples had already been to Hearst so we knew how cool it was.”

Carol Schreiber, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer, said the special overnight opportunity was in recognition of 50 years of public access for the estate, set up as a state historical monument in 1958.

Proceeds from the winning bid went toward public education and preservation and restoration of the site’s many antiquities and pieces of art, she said.

The Hagans took in a gourmet breakfast on the sun porch the next day before joining the rest of the group for a wine-tasting tour on the central coast.

Schreiber said about 25 parties bid on the overnight stay, many doing so remotely using eBay, as Hagan did.

She said she was “disappointed” by the final tally because she thought the overnight extravaganza would fetch a higher price.

“Jay knew he was able to stay in the bidding because the economy had just gone south,” Schreiber said. “I’m very grateful they hung in there.”

She said the nonprofit hoped to make the overnight an annual occasion, but would take a break this year “to allow a recovery for the economy” before starting up again next year.
Asked if the adventure was worth the price, Hagan said “absolutely.”

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”