To the laborers and craftsmen working on it, it's frequently called "Hearst Castle North" or "Head's Castle."

To anyone fortunate enough to see it, it is simply amazing.

"Calling it 'the Garden Project' is an understatement," acknowledges Ron Woodrum, owner of University Construction Company and the general contractor for the project, who is charged with turning vision into reality. "It's going to be a landmark and it's being built to stand the test of time.

"There are pathways, stairs, gardens, fountains, viewing areas and a loggia. When we're done, there will be no manmade products visible. Everything will be covered in granite or marble."

When it's completed, probably in early 2005, stairways with eight separate viewing areas will wind down a steep slope from the 22-room main house, covering approximately three acres.

There will be two major fountains.

The first, called the Grand Fountain, will feature four maidens in the center of an ornate column with two bowls and water cascading down around them. On four separate islands in the fountain will be four mermen wooing four maidens, says Bruce McCrea, head of the Sausalito-based McCrea Design Group and designer of the Garden Project.

Down additional flights of stairs will be the Fountain of the Tritons, a replica of the Pyramid Fountain at Versailles. It has five basins, with mermen at the base, then putti, then dolphins, and, at the top, lobsters.

Both fountains were carved in China under the direction of Max Le Clerc, an artist who does his design and creative work in Paris and fabrication at a factory in China. He has been working on this project for several years now, Head says.

Behind the Fountain of the Tritons is a loggia, now partially complete. Twenty 20-foot-tall columns of solid marble are already in place. Three larger-than-life-size bronze sculptures depicting the Three Muses are now standing on a patio outside the main house, weathering so that they acquire the exact patina Head desires before they are installed.

Inside the loggia, the Muses will be placed in three niches. Overhead there will be three ovals set in the ceiling, with frescoes in the style of French Rococco artists Jean-Honore Fragonard and Francois Boucher. A matching pattern on the floor will complement the overhead ovals. Steel beams now visible will eventually be sheathed with marble coverings and gold ormolu.

Head admits preservation may be "a challenge, but we'll coat them with varnish to resist weather deterioration."

When the fountains are operational, an elaborate electrical infrastructure of pumps and mechanisms will regulate the water flow of 700 to 1,000 gallons a minute for each fountain. The loggia pool alone will contain 22,000 gallons of water.

Each sculpture in the fountains was hand-carved in solid marble in China and then cut into sections for shipping.

Already, more than 100 sea and land containers with columns, statues and carvings have been delivered from China, with most items still sitting on the tennis courts waiting to be installed.

More than four million pounds of marble and granite have been delivered, with more to come.

The 128 individual hand-carved marble friezes are slowly being put in place.

Woodrum explains that building the Garden Project is much like building a multistory steel and concrete building or developing an industrial park.

"The electrical system in the loggia alone is 25,000 watts, and the overall project has more than a thousand light fixtures," he says. "There is an intense electrical system and an intense drainage system. The volume of water looks like it's for Hoover Dam, with pipes as large as 16 inches in diameter. There's a concealed droplet waterfall so all you'll see are drips of water coming out from under the stones. It's a lot of systems, and when it's done, it will look very, very simple."

Head says he has a mental vision but acknowledges that "how it's going to look you don't know until it goes up."

One thing he is certain of, he says, is "it has to look good on paper to look good in reality."

The project looks very good on paper, thanks to the detailed sketches and plans of McCrea. This is McCrea's first project for Head and one he's obviously enjoying.

"Donald told me he wanted something that was jaw-dropping and stunning. That's what he expected," says McCrea, whose website touts his company as specializing in "the creation of gardens of fantasy and folly."

At Grandview, McCrea says, "We were replacing something that was OK, but not appropriate to the site. Donald wanted a design that could carry the type of sculpture he would like to collect. His exterior sculptures are eclectic in style, and he wanted to start putting the collection together in a more organized fashion, so the more baroque-style sculptures would have a home and be beautifully sited."

On weekly visits, McCrea says, "As it has become real, it's matching my vision and it's really pleasing.

"There are some views I didn't realize would exist that exceed my expectations. As you go down the stairways to the Fountain of the Tritons, you go through space and time and experience the loggia from below; it's an incredible sensory experience."

The one portion of the project already completed is the East Grandview overlook, with its sweeping views of Santa Clara Valley from Saratoga to downtown San Jose below.

Head points to the cast bronze florets standing tall between the posts on the balustrades lining the terrace and the stairways and says, "There are 1,250 of these individually hand-cast florets."

Pointing to a graceful 45-degree curve midway down one set of stairs, he reveals it took six months "to perfect that curve."

Head doesn't seem to mind the length of time is takes to achieve perfection, only that it is achieved and accurate. That is one reason he recently decided to change from plaster to marble linings inside the fountain pools—marble that will soon be shipped from Vermont.

Woodrum acknowledges that working to turn Head's vision and McCrea's plans into reality is "a lot of pressure and stress. Dr. Head requires all of us to be accountable, and without accountability this would be chaotic.

"Accountability also requires you to be organized. Every Tuesday we have a meeting, dates are set, calendars are done and if something isn't done, you have to explain why not," he says, adding with a smile, "I enjoy it a lot."

Woodrum has been working constantly for Head since 1997. The two met while Woodrum was renovating the Carriage House Theater at Villa Montalvo and Head called him soon after.

Woodrum's most recent project at Montalvo has been building the 10 artist residency cottages and the Commons building.

His first project at Grandview was converting a small, two-bedroom guest house into a three-story, 6,500-square-foot gallery that now houses some of Head's extensive collections of art glass, Japanese screens, paintings, a theater and two guest rooms.

Both Head and McCrea speak highly of Woodrum and his work.

"He does good work and he's honest. I can't say enough," says Head.

McCrea says, "Ron has been excellent. He is an extremely competent general contractor, and his abilities and management style have moved this project along as fast as it could go, in a manner that meets my design goals and in a way that is most economical for the client."

Both Woodrum and McCrea have praise for their employer.

"He's a visionary who is building a vision," says Woodrum.

"Dr. Head has all along treated me as an artist and has never tried to outguess my dream of my vision, and that's unique," McCrea says. "Clients often want to meddle in the design. It's like when Don is buying a piece of art and allowing me to be the artist. He has been great in that regard. Fantastic, actually."

Even in the current construction phase—with wood planks over muddy areas, surveyor marks everywhere and four majestic palm trees with fronds still tied up to prevent transplant shock—it's clear that when the Garden Project is complete, it will take its place as one of the grandest gardens in the world.

McCrea, who also attends every Tuesday meeting, says, "I knew it would be exciting, but I didn't know it would be this exciting."

A visitor who points out that the fountains, sculptures and gardens may be as impressive as the gardens at Versailles created by Andre Le Notre for Louis XIV is quietly corrected by Head.

"It's better than Versailles," he says. "They have cast stone. This is all marble and granite."