Glenwood Cottage, the beginning.
Originally this beautiful historic hotel started out as an adobe boarding house built by Christopher Columbus Miller. Its original name was Glenwood Cottage, and it took its first paying guest on November 22nd, 1876. But it did not remain as a boarding house for very long.
From Boarding House to Hotel
In February 1880, Millers son Frank Augustus Miller purchased the boarding house from his father and by the 1900s it became a full-service hotel with the new name “Glenwood Mission Inn”, and thus began the many architectural changes, including in 1902 it’s new name “The Mission Inn”.
Frank Millers Vision
Frank Millers vision for the hotel was clearly eclectic. He was influenced by many different styles of architecture. Spanish, Gothic, Mission revival, Colonial and even Renaissance revival. You can see all these different architectural aspects throughout the hotel, one would not think that all these styles would come together to create his complicated vision, but his vision intricately came together, and it created a masterpiece which drew visitors from around the world and many who were quite famous.
The finished product created narrow passageways, exterior arcades, a five-story rotunda, castle towers, numerous patios and windows, Mediterranean domes, a sky bridge, even a Chapel that rivals those found throughout Europe.
The chapel was inspired by eight stained glass Louis Comfort Tifany windows that were salvaged from the Madison Square Presbyterian Church. The altar is 25 feet tall and 16 feet across, carved from cedar and completely covered in gold leaf. The chapel houses the “Garden of Bells”, Miller collected over 800 bells, and one of the bells dates to 1247, it’s said to be the oldest bell in Christendom, and upon my visit one of those bells was ringing, it was a beautiful melodic sound, it was very welcoming.
Remembering those lost
Within the hotel you can find the “Famous Fliers’ Wall”, this wall was used to recognize notable aviators, including Amelia Earhart. Today, 151 fliers or groups of fliers are honored by having their signatures etched onto 10-inch-wide copper wings. And another wall known today as the Presidential lounge, you can view oil paintings of Presidents like Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagon, just to name a few. Throughout the hotel you will find many historical items and pictures that help tell the story of this historic hotel, and evidence of many famous people who got married and or stayed at the Inn.
Notable guests
The Mission Inn has played host to U.S. Presidents, celebrities, political functions, major social gatherings and to this day seasonal holiday functions.
Pat and Richard Nixon were married there, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan spent their honeymoon there. Other notables, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, George W. Bush, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ford, Helen Keller and many more to say the least.
The Keeper of the Inn
Frank Agustus Miller died in 1935 at the age of 76 years old, he was known as The Keeper of the Inn. He is buried in Riverside’s Evergreen Cemetery. Throughout the hotel you can see the love and care that The Keeper gave to his hotel and I’m sure that he hoped that it would continue to thrive with continued management by his daughter and son-in-law. And it did for 21 more years.
After the deaths of his only daughter Allis Hutchings (1952) and her husband Dewitt (1953) only four months apart, their children sold the hotel to Benjamin Swig, and sadly the Miller family’s 80- year ownership ended.
The Inn begins to struggle.
From then on, the hotel went through several owners as well as changes. At one point some of the rooms were converted to apartments and used as dorms for UC Riverside. During the 1970’s and 1980’s the Inn faced significant financial difficulties and deterioration. There were even discussions about demolishing it, but The Friends of the Mission Inn helped secure the necessary support to have the Inn designated a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. The demolishment of this historic building would have been a tragedy, I am grateful to see that Agustus Millers beloved Inn lives on.
In 1985 The Carly Capital Group began restoring the Mission IN, but the project also faced financial difficulties, and the project was stopped and eventually the bank foreclosed on the property. At the time of the foreclosure The Carly Capital Group had already invested and estimated $40 to $50 million into the restoration efforts. But the Missions Inn’s life was just not over yet.
The re-birth of the Inn
In 1992 Duane Roberts purchased the Mission Inn Hotel with an additional name added to its marque “Mission Inn Hotel& Spa”, the new owner wasted no time in continuing the restorations and modernizing the hotel facilities. His wife Kelly continues to manage the hotel to this day.
The modernized Mission Inn & Spa.
The life of the Inn certainly was revitalized, not only does it remain a historic hotel in all its beauty as well as a living museum, but the hotel also offers fine dining, lounge bars, a pool and spa along with their beautiful rooms and suites to choose from. And one must add to their California bucket list, The Festival of Lights”.
The Festival of Lights
This annual tradition was given to the community in 1992 but now it attracts over 500,000 visitors every year. In fact, it’s one of the nation’s largest light collections and was voted “Best Public Lights Display” by USA Today. This holiday event has introduced and has brought an increasing number of visitors to the Inn which hopefully will sustain Frank Millers vision for many more years to come.
My Personal Experience
I and my husband experienced the Festival of Lights back in the 90’s. We arrived at the hotel and the arbor over the entrance was covered with brilliant lights but not just there, lights were everywhere. The holiday displays were beautiful and festive as well. Our welcome was simply magical!
We stayed overnight in a standard room that still had a bathroom from the 1930’s. I wish that back then I had known the history that I have come to know about today as I researched the Inn’s history for this blog. I believe it would have enhanced our visit.
There is so much more to know about the family who started a dream and kept it alive for 80 years I hope that you will do some research on your own for I assure you it will place a desire in your heart to visit this wonderful historic hotel, there is so much to see, so much to feel as you walk through the passageways of it’s life. I did not want to leave and I’m sure you will feel the same.
The Blogger
Here at Chino Hills Self Storage, I get to share in our customers’ adventures every day, I hear about the places they have seen and where they would like to go so as I write this blog, I have hopes that not only our valued customers but other readers alike will enjoy hearing about places such as The Mission Inn and will be encouraged to visit them and if you do, who knows maybe that adventure will remind you of the writer who planted the thought in your mind and it will somehow cause you to show up on our doorstep someday in need of our service too. For though we are not a historical landmark, here at Chino Hills Self Storage, we too play a part in someone’s history. Lives are forever changing and transitioning, and we are experts in this field, helping others to get to the next chapter in their lives, just like those who helped Glenwood Cottage to evolve into today’s Mission Inn & Spa.
Mission Inn Hotel and Spa
3649 Mission Inn Avenue
Riverside, CA 92501
