Updated:
February 16, 2007
hroughout the Mission Inn, Islamic, Moorish, Italian, and Asian influences meld with Spanish and Mission Revival styles. Over a thirty-year period, architects Arthur B. Benton, Myron Hunt and G. Stanley Wilson created and blended these architectural styles into a structure that resembles no single region of the world. Islamic design is evident in the Alhambra Court (1923-1924) on the 4th floor of the hotel. Sandwiched between the Mission Wing (1902-1903) and the St. Francis Atrio (Rotunda Wing 1929-1931), the Court of the Orient was once replete with Foo Dogs and a Japanese water garden. Other additions include the Cloister Wing (1910-1911), the Spanish Wing (1913-1914), and a 3rd floor addition to the Spanish wing (1921). The introduction of the Pacific Islands-inspired Lea Lea Room (1939) added yet another cultural and architectural dimension to the Mission Inn.
The plan to incorporate features of Asian architecture into the Mission Inn may predate the construction of the original Mission wing of the hotel. In 1893, Miller, his wife Isabella, and daughter Allis visited the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. There they saw a variety of architectural styles, including the California Building featuring architectural elements copied from the California missions. They also saw the architecture of Japan and China. The Court of the Orient at the Mission Inn, completed in 1931, offered the perfect complement to Miller’s collection of Asian and Oriental objects. This architectural style also provided solutions to design problems. The chimney for the hotel kitchen was capped with a roof inspired by a Japanese pagoda.
Frank Miller had other ideas for the hotel that were never realized, including the construction of a tower inspired by the 320 foot tall Giralda Tower, part of the Cathedral of Seville, Spain. The Cathedral was built on the site of a mosque and the tower was once a minaret. The prospective tower at the Mission Inn was to have been built at the corner of 7th Street (Mission Inn Avenue) and Orange Street. Miller was not alone in his idea to recreate the Giralda Tower. Giralda-inspired towers stand in San Francisco and Kansas City, Missouri, and at one time, a similar tower was part of Madison Square Garden in New York City. Even without a tower of its own, the Mission Inn still bears the Tower's influence--the arches framing the entrance to the St. Francis Chapel and the Galeria are not unlike the arches found on the Giralda Tower. |
