
The historic Mission Inn which occupies several blocks in downtown Riverside California is the largest Mission Revival building in the United States.

The Inn was built in 1902 by an engineer named Christopher Columbus Miller. His son Frank expanded his father’s original efforts, and added wings, rotundas, chapels, museums and galleries.

The building contains a mixture of Spanish Gothic, Moorish and Mediterranean revival architectural styles. There is a Spanish Wing, an Alhambra Wing, and flights of fancy everywhere you look.

Frank Miller traveled the world collecting museum quality treasures to fill the inn, including what some say is the oldest bell in in the new world dating from 1247.

There are two chapels on the property including the one pictured dedicated to St Francis of Assisi.

Louis Tiffany designed two of the mosaics in the chapel.

The Rotunda Wing features a five story open air staircase.

The rotunda tops a suite dedicated to the writer Anne Rice.

Presidents, world leaders, and many famous folk have stayed in the inn over its history and the inn has a presidential lounge dedicated to the many presidents who have stayed here.

The Inn began a period of slow decline in the 1960’s where ownership changed hands multiple times and bankruptcies occurred, eventually forcing the city of Riverside to purchase and close the property for eight and a half years. In 1992, The Historic Mission Inn Corporation purchased the property and reopened it in all its former glory.
I will show you more details and the interiors of this amazing building in my next post. Until then, cheers to you from The Mission Inn in Riverside California~
What a beautiful place! Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you more for your kind appreciation.
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🙂
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Love the Mission Inn….have attended many functions there over the years! Love this post and can’t wait for your inside pics!! You have done it great justice!!
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You are way ahead of me. Some home this place escaped my notice which is my loss. I will need to make up for lost time.
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Hi Cindy. It was really an amazing treat to view this wonder in your recent adventure. To actually explore and feel its presence must have been magical. ❤
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Yes it was perfect for Halloween night!
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Amazing!
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I think so too!
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Wow…. Mission Inn looks so grand and majestic.🙂
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Yes! It is indeed both of these things.
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Eine unglaublich schön gestaltete Welt in der Welt…
Ich grüsse dich, Freundin. Ernst
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Ich liebe deinen klugen Kommentar. Vielen Dank und alles Gute Ernst.
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Beautiful place ✨
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It is indeed, thanks much.
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My pleasure 😇
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My goodness! You truly captured the majesty and beauty of this building. Thank you for the history, too.
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Thank you for such thoughtful comment Jennie & cheers!
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You are welcome, Cindy!
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That is just an amazing building, wow.!
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Thanks my friend. It is quite spectacular!
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This is stunning Cindy. If they need someone to stay there I will volunteer. 🙂
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Sign me up too!!!!
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Wouldn’t that be fun! I’m sure there’s room enough!!!
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Ohhh, yeah, lots and lots of rooms and places to explore….
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What a beautiful building – flights of fancy and history captured. 🙂
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Indeed ❤
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Wowwwwwwwwwwwww this is soooooooooo beautiful!!!!!!
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It really is something special. Thank you my friend ❤
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Cindy, when your first photo loaded, I tried to figure out where you were this time. I had no idea something this lovely was right here in the U.S.!! You’re right — it looks foreign to me, with all that intriguing architecture, the chapel, mosaics, flowers, and all. I’m eager to see the inside!!
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Thank you Debbie. I feel just as you do. This was a complete surprise to me and it has been close to me all along. Just goes to show, there is always mystery all around you, waiting to unfold.
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The past remains with us…
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Ain’t it great ❤
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Yes it is!!❤️🤗❤️🤗
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Love the drama and vibrancy in your shots Cindy! Cant wait to see the interiors 💕
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Thank you Val. You make me happy I posted ❤
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Wow, Cindy, what a place. You sold me on “flights of fancy” everywhere. Next time I find myself dashing through Riverside as fast as I can, I’ll slow down. 🙂 –Curt
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Exactly what I have done all these years! Live and learn. The old town area around the inn is charming too.
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Thank you for sharing these beautiful historic pictures. Blessings
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Gratitude & blessings back to you Beverly ❤
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It is notorious the time and love in each added detail of the building. I recall a comic book writer and penciler, Frank Miller, curiously he has a story with that kind of architecture in his work for Sin City. I suspect this building is so iconic that has to be the inspiration for it. Thank you for share it : )
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I think the Inn may have been an inspiration for many things. The actual first building was erected in the late 1800’s. And then it evolved in further buildings and enhancements along with the American West. I found the building, and it’s contents utterly fascinating, and way too much to absorb in one overnight say. I know too little about it so I can’t respond accurately as to whether there was a connection between the artist Frank Miller and the Mission Inn Frank Miller. I will tell you this, I am going back, because I am fascinated and want to know and see more. Anne Rice located two of her books here in the same room Paul Newman actually stayed, The Amistad Suite, under one of the cupolas. So many presidents stayed here, they actually have their portraits and the official seal on the floor to the presidential lounge. The greatest thing is I never knew anything about any of this…..
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Thank you very much, Cindy. It only increases my love for this building ^_^
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❤ ❤
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Sensational! ❤
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It is quite a singular sensation isn’t. I am still pondering it!
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Only in California 🙂 I enjoy the exuberance of this building.
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Exactly!
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Hi Cindy.
I have tagged you in the “One grateful person tag.” I appreciate your blog and I want to share it. The link is below. Enjoy your day.
https://becomingtheoilandwine.com/2019/11/04/1-grateful-person-tag/
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Your genuine kindness touches my heart Beverly. Blessings to you sweet lady. You cast your bread upon the water and share your love. Nothing is more important than this. Thank you.
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Thank you Cindy for your kind words. Have a great day.
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Visa versa 2UX2 ❤
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Thanks for the tour and enjoyed your perspective.
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I am glad you joined me and enjoyed yourself. Thank you!
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What a cool place. I’m glad it was saved. 🙂
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Thank you, so am I ❤
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Fabulous architecture and photos, Cindy.
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I am so happy you enjoyed both. You make me glad I posted them ❤
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Gorgeous architecture. You did an awesome job with the photos. Thanks for the tour!
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It was so much fun taking the tour with you!
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Cindy these photos are stunning. The place looks wonderful.
Thank you for sharing them.
Have a great week.
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Thank you for such a kind and thoughtful comment and be well my friend.
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Cindy, thank you for these lovely photographs!
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Do you like Anne Rice? She placed two of her later novels here. I have only read about her first six or so, but I was a follower, and so were my children. I can see why she resonates with this eclectic old inn.
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Wow! It must feel like travelling through time… 😀
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It does, and this is my most favorite feeling, and is why I like staying in old places. It almost feels to me like progression means moving backwards in time.
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Yep!
Some pictures remind me a lot of Cuba… Like the Rotunda Wing. I used to go to a place in Havana where they organized concerts and shows that looked a lot like that – except that it was in dire need of some paint and restauration – but that is almost 20 years ago… it may have changed by now… 😉
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Yes! Interesting isn’t it. It reminds me a lot of Latin America, especially The Colonial Cities. There is such a gorgeous blending of architectural and cultural styles in these cities. There is a hotel named La Casa de la Marquesa in Queretaro Mexico that reminded me of a smaller version of the Inn. Marquesa is the most amazing hotel I have ever stayed in.
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Your photography takes us there. Thank you.
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I am so grateful you travel with me ❤
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Hi Cuz. I have a real interest in the old mission buildings, and this must be the biggest of ’em all. Hugs 💃☘🕺
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How are you cuz? It is awesome to hear from you! Mission and Californio architecture is my personal choice for the home I live in. It is old and it is beautiful, unique to the west, but borrowed from old Spain, Asia, and Arabia. It feels like home to me because it is. Hugs to you cuz and be well my friend.
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Great shots, Cindy! Takes me back to when I shot a student film there. Classmates and professor were absolutely convinced I drove to Mexico to shoot the film!
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How fascinating and I can understand this perfectly. This hotel looks like the colonial cities of Mexico, especially Queretaro and Zacatecas.
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What a gorgeous place! Would love to see it someday!
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I hope you do. You will enjoy the experience immensely.
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Jaw-dropping! Beautiful but possibly just a tad overblown?
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Subtle it definitely is not!
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Wow! These photos are a feast for the eyes. There is so much to take in I’d love to visit it in person. Beautiful!
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I was so surprised to find this and then chagrined that I never knew of it before.
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There is so much beauty in the world a couple hundred lifetimes probably wouldn’t be enough to soak in everything.
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This is true and you are practising gratitude. Good on you Stephanae ❤
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💗
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What a cool area, gorgeous architecture.
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Thanks much. It was a delightful surprise.
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The Inn must be a really fun place to visit, very eclectic!!
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It is great fun and the surrounding area is also interesting to explore.
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Beautiful architecture. Very picturesque. A treasure trove of history to California’s Spanish heritage. It’s great they could finally find a way to preserve and honor it after the financial setbacks.
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Yes, I am happy it is successfully preserved. It is like living history.
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Kudos to the Mission Inn Corp! What a treasure!
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Yes indeed. I hear their Christmas lights are an extravaganza which I would love to see.
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What a beautiful place! Your photos, as always, are incredible.
Incidentally, when you mentioned mosaics designed by Louis Tiffany, is he from THE Tiffanys?
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Good question. Thank you. They are original. They were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1906 for a church in New York.
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Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
I somehow missed this beautiful first post by Cindy Knoke about the historic Mission Inn in Riverside California.
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You are such a lovely friend. Be well Patricia ❤
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Wow, what an AMAZING building! I had no idea. A good reason to visit Riverside.
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I agree. I have driven through Riverside all my life without stopping. The old town surrounding the inn was also a surprise. It is good to be surprised.
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Pingback: Mission Inn~ — – Truth Troubles
Grazie mille ❤
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OMG! This is beautiful artichecture
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I agree with you and am happy you enjoyed~
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