A Suite Retreat : Refurbished Inn Retains 19th-Century Elegance, Inside and Out

Will Rogers called it “the most unique hotel in America.” John Steinbeck finished the last chapters of at least one great American masterpiece here. In its elegant salons, Amelia Earhart shared tales of airborne adventures. Nancy and Ronald Reagan honeymooned in one of its lavish suites.

It is Riverside’s famous Mission Inn, the resting and gathering place of artists, statesmen, and celebrities in the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries.

Newly restored after decades of decline, the hotel is scheduled to reopen later this year. But every weekend, persons famous or un- can learn about its colorful history and stunning architecture on a free public tour.

The docent-guided walking and talking tour takes visitors around the grand circumference of the inn. When the hotel is returned to service, tours will include (at a nominal fee) an inside look at the fully restored landmark, according to the Mission Inn Foundation.

In the late 1950s, the famous inn began slipping into disrepair. As it deteriorated, it fell into the hands of a series of owners whose restoration attempts proved futile. Now, after more than 30 years, millions in tax dollars and community donations, plus tens of millions in owner/developer investments, the renovation is complete and the inn ready for unveiling.

The Mission Inn was begun in the late 1800s by Frank Miller, an eccentric and energetic man whose dream was to build a resort in Riverside that would incorporate the mythology of Southern California, its missions and citrus orchards, while encouraging tourism.

Miller wanted to build a hotel that would become a major West Coast attraction. “The Inn and what I’m going to put into it,” Miller boasted at the time, “will be a museum of the past and a magnifying glass laid on the present.”

Starting with his family’s 13-room adobe guest house, Glenwood Cottage, Miller developed the structure into a 250-room hotel, complete with courtyards, fountains, gardens and rare artifacts from Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

The inn was designed by several prominent architects of the early 20th Century, including Arthur Benton and G. Stanley Wilson, and features an eclectic array of arches, patios, catacombs, walkways and bell towers.

The impact of the finished product may be overwhelming. Wandering from one courtyard to the next, visitors may feel transported from the Spanish palaces of Alhambra to the Zen gardens of the Orient.

The inn’s interior is also unusual in design, each wing with its own personality. The Mission wing, for example, was designed in a California mission style, with adobe-like walls, stained-glass windows and cloistered meditation alcoves. The Spanish wing has domed ceilings, hand-painted tiles and intricate stained-glass skylights.

The St. Francis Chapel houses some of the inn’s most precious treasures, including signed Tiffany windows, carved Belgian pews and an 18th-Century Mexican gold-leaf altar.

The list of notables who stayed at the inn is a formidable one: Presidents William McKinley, Benjamin Harrison and William Howard Taft found welcome relief there from the pressures of their office.

Always eager to accommodate its presidential patrons, the inn management even built a special chair to fit the portly dimensions of President Taft. In 1903, as a token of his appreciation to the inn, Theodore Roosevelt ceremoniously planted an orange tree in the main courtyard.

A young Richard Nixon chose the inn’s Presidential Suite, so-named for its use in entertaining Presidents, as the sight for his marriage to Pat in 1940.

By then, turn-of-the-century industrial giants had made the inn their personal retreat. The Carnegies, Rockefellers, Fords and Huntingtons all came to relax and enjoy the arid environment.

Many of these famous families took an active interest in financing and developing new construction at the inn. With their help, inn founder Frank Miller and his family combed Europe, returning with rare art, furnishings and new ideas.

Inspired by the architectural wonders of the continent, Miller acquired such treasures as a 16th-Century hutch from Scandinavia, stained-glass from Spain, a glockenspiel clock from Germany, and a collection of antique church bells and crucifixes.

After his return, Miller oversaw construction of several new additions to his resort. Among these was the International Rotunda, an interior courtyard with a spiral staircase that has served as a unusual place for town merchants to set up shop in past years.

Decorating the rotunda are plaques from different nations as well as the emblems of the founding padres of each California mission. Miller considered this rotunda his personal tribute to the dream of world peace.

Another interesting Miller addition was the “Flier’s Wall,” in the outer court of the St. Francis Chapel. Designed to commemorate the great aviators of the century, the wall is adorned with brass wing emblems, each personally engraved by the pilots who made scheduled stops at the Mission Inn. Among those who rested from their aerial jaunts at the inn were Amelia Earhart, Gen. Curtis LeMay and Gen. Jimmy Doolittle.

After Frank Miller’s death in 1935, the inn gradually slipped into disrepair and, eventually, bankruptcy. By 1976 it was scheduled for demolition.

In stepped the taxpayer-supported Riverside Redevelopment Agency. By buying the structure, for about $2 million, the agency prevented the loss of what its members called an important historical landmark.

On Oct. 30, 1977, the inn was designated a national landmark and turned over to the Mission Inn Foundation for restoration.

The restoration became a civic project. Community groups such as the YMCA, the Woman’s Club and the Kiwanis volunteered time and services to the project. Their efforts brought in more than $1 million in donations.

But costs were much steeper than expected, and the project was shelved until 1984, when Carly Mission Partners bought the inn and resumed renovation.

In 1988, with 70% of the restoration complete, Carly Mission Partners also ran short of funds. And, in December, 1988, the Henzin Holding Corp., a subsidiary of Chemical Bank in New York (which made the original loan to Carly Mission Partners), assumed the project.

Under the supervision of Joseph Yousem, the renovation of the Mission Inn has finally been completed. According to Yousem, fine artisans and craftsmen from around the world have been working to restore the hotel as closely as possible to its original state.

Yousem said his team has managed to preserve the historical fabric of the hotel, in accordance with the guidelines of local, state and national historical societies. Simultaneously, he said, the structure has been brought up to modern building and safety codes. The final cost of the refurbishment has been estimated at $50 million.

The Mission Inn’s modern visitors will find several new features, including a museum along the Rotunda wing that will house many of the treasures of the hotel’s past. It will be operated by the Mission Inn Foundation, which also will continue to conduct inn tours.

Several prospective buyers for the hotel are said by its developers to be waiting to reopen the inn. Negotiations for the sale are under way, according to project director Yousem, who declined to identify the bidders.

Meanwhile, citizens and merchants of Riverside continue to celebrate their famous landmark with a variety of local events. Every Wednesday evening the city stages a street fair around the Mission Inn. The event, “Downtown Wednesday Night,” features food, entertainment, arts and crafts exhibits and walking tours of the inn grounds beginning at 6:45 p.m. The tour is free.

The Mission Inn Foundation schedules the same hourlong tour every Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. During these “Sidewalk Strolls,” docents share facts and stories about the history and development of the landmark, ending the tour at the Mission Inn gift shop.

The Mission Inn in Riverside is off the Pomona Freeway (Interstate 60), at 3649 Seventh St. To join a tour without a reservation, meet by 10 a.m. Friday or Saturday at the corner of Sixth and Main streets. For special group tours or further information regarding walking tours or the Wednesday night street fair, call the Mission Inn Foundation at (714) 781-8241.