The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa history

The Mission Inn began as a twelve-room adobe boarding house built in 1876 by the Miller family formerly from Tomah, Wisconsin.

Upon realizing its potential, C.C. Miller’s son, Frank Augustus, purchased the business for a sum of $5,000 in 1880.

Riverside’s new residents even founded the first ever golf course and polos grounds in all of Southern California! By 1883, the community had grown large enough that the state government formally incorporated it as a city.

After Stanton stepped down as the leader of the National American Woman Suffrage Organization in 1890, Anthony took over with Carrie Chapman Catt acting as her direct lieutenant.

1891: Despite the continuous construction work occurring all throughout the location, Glenwood Cottage attracted diverse clientele from all across the world.

Taking nearly two decades to complete, the Mission Wing of the building debuted in 1903.

He also commissioned the construction of a quaint structure known as the “St Francis Chapel.” Its most striking feature was four large, stained-glass windows, as well as two original mosaics created by Louis C. Tiffany in 1906.

1909: Singer and songwriter Carrie Jacobs-Bond wrote the lyrics to her famous song, “A Perfect Day,” while staying at the Mission Inn.

1914: The renowned Booker T. Washington gave a speech at the Mission Inn, which filled Cloister Music Room to capacity.

Goodhue received a platform for his designs at the Panama-California Exposition of 1915, in which Spanish Colonial architecture was exposed to a national audience for the first time.

1932: One of the last additions that Frank Augustus Miller oversaw was the completion of the St Francis Atrio.

1935: Having managed the Mission Inn for more than 50 years, Frank August Miller passed away.

Meanwhile in 1957, to the horror of many in the community, then and now, Swig held an auction of Mission Inn art and artifacts.

In 1967, Swig finely sold the Mission Inn to Goldco, a company headed by H. L. Goldberger.

1969: A group of concerned citizens eventually banded together to save the hotel out of a justifiable fear that it would be destroyed by real estate developers.

In May 1971, the Riverside City Council examined the idea of buying the Inn and actually voted unanimously to make the purchase.

The Mission Inn Foundation was incorporated in 1976 to assist in the preservation and restoration of the Mission Inn, and originally, to manage the hotel during ownership by the City of Riverside’s Redevelopment Agency.

After eight years of city ownership, the hotel was sold to Carley Capital Group (CCG) in 1984, which closed it and began a ground-up restoration.