In less than a month, Riverside's Mission Inn gained a new owner, lost two treasured works of art and sparked a heated debate over the line between private property and community history.
The stage for this controversy was set in early May, when hotel owner Kelly Roberts decided to sell the Mission Inn to the Yuhaaviatam of the 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 amount) that started the discussions. It was Roberts' removal of two beloved paintings from the hotel before the sale was closed.
A painting at the Mission Inn in Riverside titled “Charge Up San Juan Hill” is removed on March 20, shortly before the hotel's change of ownership.
(James Ranger)
One is an alpine landscape called “California Alps” (1874) by William Keith, which measures approximately 6 feet by 8 feet and was displayed in the lobby near the reception. The other painting, “Charge St. John's Hill” (circa 1900) by Vasily Vereshchagin, was displayed on a wall of the steakhouse near the lobby. Both paintings had been part of the hotel for more than a century.
“It was like a slow-motion version of the Louvre Museum heist, carried out on a sunny day in Riverside in full view of guests, staff and visitors,” wrote David Allen of the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
“There is outrage among members of this community,” said Mike Marlatt, a Riverside attorney and former board member of the Mission Inn Foundation.
The issue appears to be what agreements Roberts' late husband made when he purchased the building more than 30 years ago.
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 right now is simply looting the place in violation of those agreements.” But in a phone call, it was less absolute. He said the original pact included an agreement aimed at protecting around 180 works of art and movable artifacts from removal, but that “there are 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 Laguna Beach home. Duane, who reopened the Mission Inn in the early 1990s, died in 2025.
(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)
Roberts family lawyer Alan Jackson, however, said that “Kelly is not looting anything.” He maintained that when Duane Roberts purchased the hotel, “he purchased every item. Every item was the personal property of the Roberts family.” When Kelly Roberts sold the hotel last month, Jackson said, she was free to keep or sell any of its contents.
In that deal, Jackson said, “buyers wouldn't close” until the paintings and a sculpture by Duane and Kelly Roberts were removed, because “they're expensive.” Additionally, Jackson said that Duane Roberts, “before his passing, made it very clear to Kelly and the family that those are two of his favorite paintings.”
Jackson declined to say where the artwork is, but said “it is in his possession” and “he has no intention of ever getting rid of it.”
The iconic spiral staircase in the rotunda of the historic Mission Inn.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The hotel's new owner, the San Manuel Investment Authority, declined to answer questions about the sales agreement. But in a statement, he said he is “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 praise from groups like Historic Hotels of America, tensions between the Roberts family and Riverside preservationists have risen in recent years. In late 2024, after more than 30 years renting space within the hotel, the nonprofit Mission Inn Foundation and Museum was unable to reach an agreement on a lease extension with the hotel's management and moved to a building on Main Street. Foundation leaders did not respond to messages seeking comment.
“The Mission Inn is so central to Riverside that any significant change causes me real concern and makes me uncomfortable,” said Councilman Philip Falcone, 28, who has led tours of the hotel since he was in high school.
Keith's painting is “quintessential California, a romantic view of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. William Keith, the painter, was a friend of John Muir,” Falcone said. As for the painting on St. John's Hill, it clearly connects to the story of Theodore Roosevelt, one of the nine presidents who visited the inn.
A guest takes in the view from the Mission Inn's Spanish patio.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
The hotel is largely the brainchild of Frank Miller, who purchased Glenwood Cottage, a modest boarding house, from his father in 1880. Miller then sought investment help from his friend, railroad magnate Henry Huntington, transformed the boarding house into a hotel and renamed it. Over time, Miller turned it into an architectural paradise filled with art and antiques collected from across the United States and Europe. In 1931, the company occupied a city block.
“It's a unique property,” said David Stolte, president of the Old Riverside Foundation. “It's a National Historic Landmark. It's sort of at the intersection of private commerce and public benefit. The original owner, Frank Miller, envisioned it as a public space, essentially a cultural museum, in addition to his business of running a hotel.”
After Miller's death in 1935, the hotel's reputation spread even further, attracting dignitaries of the time and future. It served as the location of Richard and Pat Nixon's wedding in 1940 and Ronald and Nancy Reagan's honeymoon in 1952. But by the 1960s, it was greatly diminished and a later owner, Benjamin Swig, had sold it. about 1,000 antiques and artwork to help pay the bills.
By the mid-1980s, the hotel had gone through a period of city ownership and was closed. By 1992, more than $50 million had been spent on restoration and renovation, but the project failed due to bankruptcy. That's when Duane Roberts, who grew up in Riverside and made his fortune selling flash frozen burritos, bought the property and reopened it.
Laguna Beach residents Duane and Kelly Roberts also established the hotel's annual Festival of Lights, an Inland Empire holiday tradition. The hotel today includes 238 rooms, four restaurants, two lounges, two chapels, a spa, swimming pool and candy store.
In addition to running the hotel, Duane and Kelly Roberts became known as major donors to the Republican Party. In 2017, political reported that Kelly Roberts was in line to be named the Trump administration's ambassador to Slovenia, but turned down the position.
After Duane Roberts died at age 88 in November, Riverside was rife with questions about the hotel's fate, prompting another Roberts family attorney to offer public assurances.
“Nobody is going to buy this hotel. Ms. Roberts is keeping this hotel,” attorney Patrick O'Brien told a television news crew in late November. But on May 4, Kelly Roberts and the San Manuel Investment Authority announced the pending sale.
The Festival of Lights, the Mission Inn's popular holiday tradition, was created by Kelly and Duane Roberts after the hotel reopened.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Then, on May 20, guests saw workers removing the two paintings from the lobby area. Longtime hotel watchers said other items had gone missing in recent years, including an 1876 Steinway piano; a statue of the goddess Pomona; William Wendt’s painting “Houses at Arch Beach”; Ilya Repin’s 1884 painting “Portrait of Madame K.”; and the hotel's Taft chair, a sturdy oak armchair commissioned by Frank Miller in 1909 to house the 335-pound President Taft. But at noon, the early removal of Keith and Vereshchagin's paintings sparked an immediate protest.
It was “traumatizing to see those things on display for so long and then see them fall,” said James Ranger, a veteran hotel tour guide and Mission Inn Foundation docent. After all the time and money the Roberts family invested in the property, “leaving it like this leaves a bitter taste,” he said.
The sale closed on May 29. Although attorneys for the Roberts family have insisted that the buyers and sellers are in agreement, preservation advocates in Riverside have called for a review of documents associated with Roberts' purchase of the property.
Meanwhile, the hotel's new era as a tribal property begins. In addition to the two hotel-casinos, the San Manuel Nation's Yuhaaviatam owns several other hotels, including the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club in Dana Point. As for the Mission Inn, the tribe has signed on with Boston-based Pyramid Global Hospitality to take over management, and several changes are already evident.
Notably, the Roberts' names have been removed from the signs. Kelly's Spa has become just the spa, Duane's Steakhouse is now just the steakhouse, and Casey's Cupcakes, a hotel shop founded by Kelly's daughter, Casey Beau Brown, has closed. The Festival of Lights will continue, a spokesperson said.
Stolte said the Old Riverside Foundation believes the tribe will be “great stewards” of the Mission Inn.
“I wish your welcome to Riverside was a little quieter,” he said.
Staff writer Alex Wigglesworth also contributed to this story.
