At Riverside’s Mission Inn, former proprietor departs with historic artwork

In lower than a month, Riverside’s Mission Inn has gained a brand new proprietor, misplaced two prized items of artwork and sparked a heated debate over the road between personal property and neighborhood historical past.

The stage for this controversy was set in early May, when resort proprietor Kelly Roberts determined to promote the Mission Inn to the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, the tribe that owns the Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland and the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

But it wasn’t the sale (for an undisclosed quantity) that began arguments. It was Roberts’ elimination of two beloved work from the resort earlier than the sale closed.

A portray on the Mission Inn in Riverside titled “Charge Up San Juan Hill” is taken down on March 20, shortly earlier than the resort’s change in possession.

(James Ranger)

One is an alpine panorama referred to as “California Alps” (1874) by William Keith, which measures roughly 6 ft by 8 ft and was displayed within the foyer close to the entrance desk. The different portray, “Charge Up San Juan Hill” (about 1900) by Vasily Vereshchagin, was displayed on a wall of the steakhouse close to the foyer. Both work had been part of the resort for greater than a century.

“It was like a slow-motion version of the Louvre Museum heist, pulled off on a sunny day in Riverside in view of guests, staff and visitors,” wrote David Allen of the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

“There’s an outrage among members of this community,” stated Mike Marlatt, a Riverside legal professional and former board member of the Mission Inn Foundation.

The problem seems to be what agreements Roberts’ late husband made when he purchased the constructing greater than 30 years in the past.

Former Riverside redevelopment official Ralph Megna, who facilitated the 1992 sale to Duane Roberts’ Historic Mission Inn Corp., wrote on Facebook that “What Kelly is apparently doing at this point is just pillaging the place in violation of those agreements.” But on a cellphone name, he was much less absolute. He stated the unique pact included an settlement supposed to guard about 180 movable items of artwork and artifacts from elimination, however that “there’s shades of gray here.” Megna added, “We trusted people. Good faith turned out to be not so good.”

Duane and Kelly Roberts, photographed in 1998 at their dwelling in Laguna Beach. Duane, who reopened the Mission Inn within the early Nineteen Nineties, died in 2025.

(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Roberts’ household legal professional Alan Jackson, nevertheless, stated “Kelly is not pillaging anything.” He maintained that when Duane Roberts purchased the resort, “he bought every single item. Every single item was the Roberts family’s personal property.” When Kelly Roberts offered the resort final month, Jackson stated, she was free to maintain or promote any of its contents.

In that deal, Jackson stated, “the buyers would not close” till the work and a sculpture of Duane and Kelly Roberts have been eliminated, as a result of “they’re expensive.” Also, Jackson stated that Duane Roberts, “before his passing, made it very clear to Kelly and the family that those are two of his favorite paintings ever.”

Jackson declined to say the place the artworks are however stated “they are in her possession” and “she has no intention of ever getting rid of those ever.”

The iconic spiral staircase within the rotunda of the historic Mission Inn.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The resort’s new proprietor, the San Manuel Investment Authority, declined to deal with questions concerning the sale settlement. But in an announcement, it stated it’s “committed to collaborating with the Mission Inn Foundation and the City to respectfully steward and preserve this historic landmark, recognizing its deep history and significance to the Riverside community.”

Despite accolades from teams together with Historic Hotels of America, tensions between the Roberts household and Riverside preservationists have risen lately. In late 2024, after greater than 30 years renting area inside the resort, the nonprofit Mission Inn Foundation and Museum was unable to agree on a lease extension with resort administration and moved to a constructing on Main Street. Foundation leaders didn’t reply to messages in search of remark.

“The Mission Inn is so foundational to Riverside that any significant change brings real concern to me and makes me uneasy,” stated City Council member Philip Falcone, 28, who has been main excursions of the inn since he was in highschool.

The Keith portray is “quintessential California, a romanticized view of the Sierra Nevada range. William Keith, the painter, was friends with John Muir,” Falcone stated. As for the San Juan Hill portray, it connects neatly with the historical past of Theodore Roosevelt, considered one of 9 presidents who’ve visited the inn.

A visitor takes within the view from the Spanish patio on the Mission Inn.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

The resort is basically the creation of Frank Miller, who purchased Glenwood Cottage, a modest boarding home, from his father in 1880. Then Miller enlisted funding assist from his good friend, railroad magnate Henry Huntington, reworked the boarding home right into a resort and renamed it. Over time, Miller constructed it into an architectural wonderland stuffed with artwork and antiques gathered within the U.S. and Europe. By 1931, the enterprise stuffed a metropolis block.

“It’s a unique property,” stated David Stolte, president of the Old Riverside Foundation. “It’s a National Historic Landmark. It kind of sits at the intersection of private commerce and public benefit. The original owner, Frank Miller, intended it as a public space, essentially a cultural museum, in addition to his business of running a hotel.”

After Miller’s dying in 1935, the resort’s popularity unfold even additional, attracting dignitaries of the day — and the long run. It served as the positioning of Richard and Pat Nixon’s wedding ceremony in 1940 and Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s honeymoon in 1952. But by the Sixties, it was a lot diminished, and a later proprietor, Benjamin Swig, had offered close to 1,000 antiques and artworks to assist pay payments.

By the mid-Nineteen Eighties, the resort had handed by means of a interval of metropolis possession and was closed. By 1992, greater than $50 million had been spent in restoration and renovation, however the mission was scuttled by a chapter. That’s when Duane Roberts, who grew up in Riverside and made his fortune promoting flash-frozen burritos, purchased the property and reopened it.

Duane and Kelly Roberts, residents of Laguna Beach, additionally established the resort’s annual Festival of Lights, an Inland Empire vacation custom. The resort right this moment contains 238 visitor rooms, 4 eating places, two lounges, two chapels, a spa, pool and sweet store.

Besides their stewardship of the resort, Duane and Kelly Roberts turned generally known as main donors to the Republican Party. In 2017, Politico reported that Kelly Roberts was in line to be named the Trump administration’s ambassador to Slovenia, however turned down the submit.

After Duane Roberts died at 88 in November, Riverside buzzed with questions over the destiny of the resort, prompting one other Roberts household lawyer to supply public assurances.

“Nobody’s buying this hotel. Mrs. Roberts is keeping this hotel,” legal professional Patrick O’Brien informed a TV information crew in late November. But on May 4, Kelly Roberts and the San Manuel Investment Authority announced the pending sale.

Festival of Lights, Mission Inn’s in style vacation custom, was created by Kelly and Duane Roberts after they reopened the resort.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Then on May 20, friends noticed staff eradicating the 2 work from the foyer space. Longtime hotel-watchers stated different objects had disappeared lately, together with an 1876 Steinway piano; a statue of the goddess Pomona; William Wendt’s portray “Houses at Arch Beach”; Ilya Repin’s 1884 portray “Portrait of Madame K.”; and the resort’s Taft Chair, a sturdy oak armchair commissioned by Frank Miller in 1909 to carry 335-pound President Taft. But the noon, presale elimination of the Keith and Vereshchagin work prompted speedy outcry.

It was “traumatizing, seeing that stuff on display for so long and then seeing it come down,” stated James Ranger, a veteran resort tour information and Mission Inn Foundation docent. After all of the money and time the Roberts household invested within the property, “leaving on this note puts a sour taste out there,” he stated.

The sale closed May 29. Though the Roberts household’s attorneys have insisted that the consumers and sellers are in accord, preservation advocates in Riverside have referred to as for a evaluation of paperwork related to Roberts’ buy of the property.

Meanwhile, the resort’s new period as a tribal holding begins. Besides the 2 casino-hotels, the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation owns a number of different motels, together with the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club in Dana Point. As for the Mission Inn, the tribe has signed on Boston-based Pyramid Global Hospitality to take over administration, and a number of other adjustments are already evident.

Notably, the Roberts’ names have been dropped from the signage. Kelly’s Spa has turn out to be merely the spa, Duane’s Steakhouse is now simply the steakhouse, and Casey’s Cupcakes, a resort store based by Kelly’s daughter Casey Beau Brown, has closed. The Festival of Lights will proceed, a spokesperson stated.

Stolte stated the Old Riverside Foundation believes the tribe will probably be “great stewards” for the Mission Inn.

“I wish that their welcome to Riverside was a little smoother,” he stated.

Staff author Alex Wigglesworth additionally contributed to this story.