History and Social Studies:

4.2.4 Describe the mapping of, geographic basis of, and economic factors in the placement and function of the Spanish missions; and understand how the mission system expanded the influence of Spain and Catholicism throughout New Spain and Latin America.

Literature and Language Arts:

1.2 Create multiple-paragraph compositions:
a. Provide an introductory paragraph.
b. Establish and support a central idea with a topic sentence at or near the beginning of the first paragraph.
c. Include supporting paragraphs with simple facts, details, and explanations.
d. Conclude with a paragraph that summarizes the points.
e. Use correct indention.

1.3 Use traditional structures for conveying information (e.g., chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, posing and answering a question).

Penmanship

1.4 Write fluidly and legibly in cursive or joined italic.
2.1 Write narratives:
a. Relate ideas, observations, or recollections of an event or experience.
b. Provide a context to enable the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience.
c. Use concrete sensory details.
Provide insight into why the selected event or experience is memorable.

Introduction
Background for the Teacher
Guiding Questions
Learning Opportunities
Assessment
Guided Discussion Questions
Instructional Plan
Materials Needed
Groupings
Checking for Student Understanding
Guided Practice
Independent Practice
Closure
Extention
English Learners
G.A.T.E. Students

Mission Inn Museum website
California Missions detailed architectural features
Mission Inn architecture
Mission Inn architecture
California Missions
California Missions
California Mission History
California Mission style architecture

Introduction:

Much of California's history began with the arrival of the Spanish and the building of the Spanish missions. The twenty-one missions along California's El Camino Real represent the first arrival of non-Native Americans to California. Life for the California Native Americans was forever changed. In addition to Christianity, the missions brought many other influences to California such as livestock, fruits, flowers, grains, industry, and the architecture of Spain.

A specific site was chosen that featured a plentiful water supply, wood for fires and building materials, and fields for grazing herds and raising crops.  The padres blessed the site before the building began.  Because of the lack of supplies nearby, each mission was forced to be self-supporting; the nearest base of supplies was months away in Mexico.  The padres and Spanish soldiers of the missions relied on the local native-Californians to tend the crops and livestock. 

Building materials for the missions included adobe, timber, stone, brick, and tile.  Padres copied the building styles and techniques from their native Spain.  They were influenced by the early Romans, who built domes, vaults, and arches as well as church belfries.  Other building features included long corridors and pillars. 

A common characteristic of the California Missions was the fountain at the center of a courtyard, which indicated the wealth of the mission.  Another feature is the number of courtyards and gardens.  Each mission also contained a chapel.  Decorations were usually copied from books brought from Spain and recreated by the native artists.  All of the missions were built in a simple style and were designed to provide coolness in the heat of day, and warmth in the cold.

Over one hundred years later the influence of these magnificent missions can still be seen.  Frank Miller, founder of the Mission Inn, was fascinated by the architecture of the California missions and as a result, much of the Riverside Mission Inn was modeled after these beautiful structures.

Background for the teacher:

At the beginning of the 20th Century, the allure and romance of the California missions spurred the adoption of Mission-style architecture. Mission Inn architect Arthur B. Benton (1911) wrote:

“[The Missions] advertise the State as nothing else can.
They give a touch of the romantic and historical atmosphere
which is the lure that draws the people to our new America. . .” (p. 159)

Frank Miller, owner of the Mission Inn, was an enthusiastic supporter of the California missions. In the book Towards a Simpler Way of Life – The Arts and Crafts Architects of California, architectural historian Karen J. Weitze (Winter, 1997) writes:

“. . . from its courtyard plan and surrounding arcades to its towers
and campanarios, the hotel was – and remains – a potent tribute
to the romance of Spanish-Mexican California.” (p. 196)

The simple beauty of an inner courtyard, clay roof tiles, and rough-hewn beams are all mission-influenced features of the hotel. Arches like the ones found at San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey, and other California missions line Mission Inn Avenue (originally named 7th Street). Guests who have visited both the Inn and Mission San Gabriel de Archangel will recognize the similarity between the Mission Inn's bell tower, (the Campanario), and the bell tower at San Gabriel. The design of the terra cotta-colored dome of Mission San Carlos Borromeo Carmelo was incorporated into the northeast corner of the hotel, and the original two-story home Frank Miller's father built on the property in 1875 was transformed into the one story “Old Adobe,” complete with roof garden. Despite such architectural similarities, there was never an actual mission on the site.

The Spanish-Mission Revival style came to serve as a unifying architectural element for the City of Riverside’s downtown core. Other examples of Spanish-Mission Revival architecture downtown include the Riverside Memorial Auditorium and Soldier's Memorial (designed by Mission Inn architects Arthur B. Benton and G. Stanley Wilson); the US Post Office, now the Riverside Metropolitan Museum; the old Riverside City Hall; the YWCA, now the Riverside Art Museum (designed by Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan); the Fox Theatre; the Union Pacific Depot; the YMCA, now the Life Arts Building; the First Church of Christ, Scientist (designed by Benton); the Riverside First Congregational Church (designed by Mission Inn architect Myron Hunt); Casa de Anza motel (designed by Wilson) on Market Street; and the Riverside Carnegie Library, which was replaced in 1965.

This stylistic influence reached beyond the downtown area. Myron Hunt was selected as the architect for the permanent structures at March Field, the Army Air Corps’ base east of Riverside. The government reported that the style of the base was to “harmonize with the best traditions of the historical architecture of Southern California," just like the Mission Inn, as noted in the National Register of Historic Places nomination materials for March Field (National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Overview section 8, page 37, n.d.).

At the Mission Inn, we also see Islamic, Moorish, Italian, Asian, and Arts and Crafts influences. Islamic design is evident in the Alhambra Court (1923-1924) located 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 is inspired by Asian architecture. The introduction of the Pacific Islands-inspired Lea Lea Room added another cultural dimension to the Inn in 1939. Over a thirty year period, hotel architects Benton, Hunt, and Wilson created and blended these architectural styles into a unique structure that resembles no single region of the world.

These three architects were responsible for numerous commissions throughout Southern California. The Mission Inn is considered the pinnacle of Benton's architecture career. His other projects included the Pasadena YMCA, Church of the Epiphany in Los Angeles’ Lincoln Heights, and the president’s home at Claremont McKenna College (formally Claremont Men’s College). Hunt, from Pasadena, also left an invaluable architectural legacy, including the college campuses of Cal Tech, Pomona, and Occidental, the Rose Bowl, the Pasadena City Library, the Ambassador Hotel, the Huntington Hospital (now the Court of Appeals), the Hollywood Bowl, and the Henry E. Huntington Beaux Arts mansion (part of the Huntington Libraries). Architect and builder G. Stanley Wilson was a Riverside resident, and the local region benefited from his talent. Wilson designed several schools and houses in Riverside, as well as the National Register-listed Mission Revival style US Post Office Building in nearby Redlands. The shared vision of these architects will live on forever through the distinctive and timeless beauty of the Mission Inn.

The recognition of the Mission Inn as a National Historic Landmark, a California State Historic Landmark, and a City of Riverside Cultural Landmark reinforced the need to preserve this unique melding of architectural styles. In 1985, the hotel was closed for a major renovation and preservation effort. Careful attention to detail was essential in order to maintain the historic and architectural integrity of the landmark site. The project included updating the electrical and plumbing systems, installing air conditioning, fire sprinklers, and structural and seismic reinforcement, along with other life and safety measures. These efforts required the ingenuity of preservation architects, engineers, and contractors. The beautifully restored Mission Inn reopened to great fanfare in 1992.
_________________________                                 

Benton, Arthur B. (1911). The California Mission and Its Influence upon Pacific Coast Architecture. The West Coast Magazine, 9, 2, 136-160.

Winter, Robert. (Ed.). (1997). Towards a Simpler Way of Life – The Arts and Crafts Architects of California. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Guiding Questions:

1. What does architecture tell us about the people of that time and place?

2. How does architecture reflect the geography of the area in which it is built?

3. Why do so many people create architecture that reflects another time and place?

Learning Opportunities: What do you expect your students to do by the end of this lesson? (Objective):

As a component during instruction on the influence of the California missions, particularly in regard to the Spanish and architecture, students will:

• Understand how the mission system expanded the influence of Spain and Catholicism throughout New Spain and Latin America.
• Create multiple-paragraph compositions.
• Provide an introductory paragraph.
• Establish and support a central idea with a topic sentence at or near the beginning of the first paragraph.
• Include supporting paragraphs with simple facts, details, and explanations.
• Conclude with a paragraph that summarizes the points.
• Use correct indention.
• Write fluidly and legibly in cursive or indented italic.

Write narratives:

• Relate ideas, observations, or recollections of an event or experience.
• Provide insight into why the selected event or experience is memorable.
• Use concrete sensory details.
• Provide insight into why the selected event or experience is memorable.

Assessment: What evidence will let you know that each and every student has achieved this objective?

• Accurate completion of primary source worksheet
• Pre/post Test
• Vocabulary Review
• Rubric Scored Narrative Composition

Guided Discussion Questions:   What review, refocus, or leading will occur that will ensure that students are focused on the learning? (Anticipatory Set):

To discuss the topic of California Mission architecture and its influence on the Riverside Mission Inn:

1. Is it important that buildings be beautiful as well as useful?
2. How does the architecture of a building reflect its environment?
3. Why would Frank Miller choose to use several cultural influences in his Mission Inn and not just one?
4. Why do you think Frank Miller was so influenced by California Missions architecture?

Instructional Plan: How will the lesson be structured? What strategies will be used? (Instructional Input):

• Teacher peruses the above Introduction and Background.
• Teacher previews information from website, which describes each artifact.
• Whole class direct instruction during initial questioning – tapping into prior knowledge.
• Individual student completion of pretest.
• Whole class direct instruction for viewing artifacts from website or PowerPoint – contextual clues.
• Independent and/or small groups complete primary source worksheet.
• Individual students write on-demand narrative composition.

Materials needed to teach this lesson:

• Mission Inn website viewed on classroom LCD projector or printout PowerPoint and use on overhead or students may view from home or on classroom computer in small groups.
• Background sheet on California Mission architecture.
• Primary Source Worksheet.
• On-Demand Writing Prompt.

Groupings that will be used in this lesson:

• Whole class for checking for prior knowledge, guided questions, viewing artifacts, discussion.
• Independent student completes pretest.
• Independent student or small groups complete primary source worksheet.
• Independent student completes post test.
• Independent student writes on-demand narrative composition.

Checking for student understanding:

• Classroom discussion/questioning
• Pre/post test
• Vocabulary review
• Primary source worksheet
• Quickwrite/discuss

Opportunities for students to practice the skill/concept: (Guided Practice):

Hold class discussion to discuss the role of architecture in society and the influences of the California missions on local architecture - the Mission Inn.  Distribute the primary source worksheet and background sheet on California mission architecture. (Display the following on LCD projector from website or PowerPoint Link – PowerPoint may also be copied to transparency for use on overhead projector)  Explain that Frank Miller, local entrepreneur, founded the Mission Inn in 1903. He worked with architects and encouraged them to use the influences of the California missions architecture in the final structure.  Throughout the building of the Mission Inn, Frank Miller not only used California mission elements, but influences of Islamic and Asian art.   (At each link during your architecture tour, online written narrative is available to describe the artifacts.) (PowerPoint) (PowerPoint Reference List with link from each slide to Mission Inn Artifact Narrative)

Opportunities for students to practice the skill/concept independently: (Independent Practice):

After working independently and /or in small collaborative groups to determine information from primary source photographs, students will write an on-demand narrative in which they write a fictional account of a visit to the Mission Inn.

Writing prompt:  Imagine that you are are a traveler from New York visiting California for the first time.  You are staying at the Mission Inn in Riverside and you are impressed by the influence of the Spanish-style Califormia missions architecture on this beautiful landmark.  Write a story about your visit and your observations.

Opportunities for students to reflect, summarize, clarify, or explain learning: (Closure):

• Journal write:  "What parts of Mission Inn architecture remind you most of the California missions?"

Extensions:

• Field trip to the Mission Inn – ask for docent assistance to show the various architectural features.
• Research California missions.
• Build a model of a California mission; include a key. (No Kits) Write details of the use of each of the buildings.
• Research the history of architecture. Who was the first known architect?
• Research the building of the Riverside Mission Inn.

English Learners:

Beginning: Write a paragraph about the California missions.

Intermediate: After locating information from resources, write at least one paragraph about California mission architecture.

Advanced: Write a narrative composition in which you describe a fictional stay at the mission Inn; discuss what you saw and heard and what influences you noted in regards to the architectural influence of the California missions.

G.A.T.E. Students:

• Organize a debate in which the question is: “Discuss the details of California mission architecture, is it important to keep preserving it, understanding that doing so is costly to the cities in which they are built? Should we let these very old structures decay naturally or even try to replace them with newer ones?
• Research landmark buildings in the United States of America that were influenced by California mission architecture.
• Were the native peoples of California helping the padres and soldiers willingly? Would the California missions have prospered with these native peoples? Were they treated fairly?