Mission Inn

We like visiting historical sites. So we visited the Mission Inn, in Riverside Sabbath afternoon . It is a place worth visiting.



The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa occupies an entire city block in the heart of downtown Riverside, but this was not always so. The Inn began as the Glenwood a two floor 12 rooms adove boarding house,build in 1876 by Christopher Columbus Miller.

By the turn of the century, Riverside was already a major tourist attraction for wealthy easterners and Europeans escaping to warm winter climates and seeking investment opportunities in the burgeoning and profitable citrus industry. What the city lacked though, was a major tourist hotel. After several failed schemes to secure financing for his grander version of a hotel, in 1902 Miller built a four story U-shaped hotel enclosing a large central courtyard. Over the next thirty years Miller added three more wings to the structure. The Cloister Wing, built in 1910, added more guest rooms, but there was an increased emphasis on public spaces, including the large Music Room, an art and gift shop, and the St. Cecilia Chapel. The famous Cloister Walk, also called the Catacombs, with its niches, chambers, and art objects became a major attraction. The Catacombs are now closed to the public.

The Spanish Wing came next in 1913-1914, designed by Myron Hunt. The Spanish Patio, reminiscent of Spanish castle courtyards, offered guests an outdoor dining experience. Frank Miller's growing collection of art and artifacts prompted the inclusion of the large Spanish Art Gallery to exhibit parts of the collection. Two floors of additional guest rooms, including the Author's Row suites and Miller's own private suite, were added in the late 1920's.

The International Rotunda Wing, completed in 1931, filled out the original city block. The Rotunda features an open-air, five-story spiral staircase, another art gallery (the Galleria), the Famous Fliers' Wall (a monument to pioneers in aviation), the St. Francis Chapel, and the Court of the Orient. The chapel was designed specifically to accommodate a massive Eighteenth Century gold-leafed cedar altar from Mexico and seven equally impressive Louis C. Tiffany stained glass windows (an eighth was installed in the Galleria). The Court of the Orient reflected Miller's lifetime interest in far eastern cultures, especially Japan