The site at 39405 Murrieta Hot Springs Road has been a mineral spa, a run-down relic, a Christian conference center and a Bible college campus. Since 2024 it has been a day spa that anyone with a swimsuit can walk into. This fall the City of Murrieta is considering something new for it. The city would formally recognize the resort as a local cultural resource. That recognition would also open the door to a contract requiring the owner to preserve the historic property for at least ten years.
In more than a century, the site has changed owners several times. Each change put its future back in question. The designation would give that future a written timeline.
What the city is actually being asked to decide
Patch reported on October 13 that the Murrieta Planning Commission would consider whether to recommend the designation to the City Council, which makes the final decision. The commission took the item up at its 6 p.m. meeting on October 14. The commission handles this because of a 2015 change. That year the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 505-15 and gave the duties of the old Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee to the Planning Commission, including recommending properties for cultural resource designation.
The city staff report lays out the steps in order:
- Designation. The City Council decides whether to designate the resort as a local cultural resource under Chapter 16.26 of the Murrieta Development Code.
- Mills Act contract. Once the property is designated, it becomes eligible for a Mills Act contract. That is a voluntary agreement between the owner and the city, lasting at least ten years, that requires ongoing rehabilitation, restoration, preservation and maintenance of the historic resource.
- County assessment. If the council approves a contract and it is recorded, the Riverside County Assessor sets the property's assessed value using state methods. The city does not set the resulting tax benefit and does not guarantee it.
The city is handling the designation and the Mills Act application together, with a single public hearing and notice process. Even so, the report says designation has to be completed before any contract can be approved. The state program dates to 1972, and the California Office of Historic Preservation explains it on its Mills Act page.
A resort that has needed rescuing before
The history behind the designation request is also a history of ownership changes:
| Year | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1902 | German immigrant Fritz Guenther buys land around the springs to build a health-spa resort, originally called Guenther's Murrieta Mineral Hot Springs | Resort history; Patch |
| 1904 | The Monterey Hotel is added, followed by the California Hotel | Resort history |
| Late 1920s | A Mineral Bath House is in place | Resort history |
| 1980s | The resort falls into disrepair | Patch |
| 1995 | Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa converts it into a Christian conference retreat center and Bible College campus | Patch; Press-Enterprise |
| 2022 | Olympus Real Estate Group buys the 41.3-acre site for $50 million | Patch |
| February 2024 | The resort reopens to the public | Press-Enterprise |
According to Patch, the resort drew locals, travelers and celebrities to its waters in its early decades before it declined. The same report says Olympus renovated and preserved the property as a hot springs wellness resort and day spa.
None of these owners was bound by anything like the ten-year preservation contract now on the table. Each one decided for itself what to do with the buildings. The Mills Act would put those decisions into an agreement with the city for at least a decade.
Which buildings make it historic
The resort's own history page lists the Monterey Hotel, the California Hotel, the Mineral Bath House, bungalows, employee quarters and Cottage Row as parts of the historic resort. Sources give different dates for some of them. In its 2024 reopening coverage, The Press-Enterprise dated the Monterey Lodge to around 1918 and the Historic Bathhouse to the 1940s. The resort's own timeline puts the Monterey Hotel at 1904 and the Mineral Bath House at the late 1920s. The two accounts may describe different construction phases. Either way, the main buildings on the grounds date from the first half of the 20th century.
Patch reports that city documents describe the resort as likely eligible for both the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources. Listing on either register could help the property qualify for a Mills Act contract. The case file includes a site plan, a grant deed and a revised state historic resource form, known as a DPR record. Those documents are posted with the staff report for anyone who wants to see exactly which features the city has documented.
What the ten-year contract changes
Patch reported that the resort's 2024 property tax bill was $608,637.38, citing the Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder's office. That shows the scale of the costs involved. It doesn't predict any savings. The staff report says the final assessment depends on county and state calculations.
In return for any tax relief, the owner takes on an obligation. A Mills Act contract requires continued rehabilitation, restoration, preservation and maintenance of the historic resource for at least ten years. The city found the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act. Its reasoning was that the work allowed under the designation and contract is limited to maintaining, repairing, rehabilitating and preserving historic resources in line with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
For anyone who soaks there, the practical effect is that keeping up the hotels and bathhouse would become a public commitment with a set length. This post reports the city's process for general information only, and it isn't legal or tax advice. Any property owner curious about the Mills Act should confirm their own situation with a qualified tax or legal professional.
Using the place as a local this fall
Here is what is open to residents now, according to the resort's own pages:
- Hours. Public soaking runs daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., year-round.
- Passes. Day passes start at $109, twilight passes start at $59, and local-resident passes start at $59 with a valid local ID. One local-offer link on the site says "starting at $69," so check the current rate before you go.
- What a pass includes. More than 25 geothermal soaking pools, cold plunges, family-friendly and adults-only pools, the panoramic sauna, Bathhouse access, and daily wellness activities.
- Spa. Every spa treatment includes day-pass access. The Restorative Massage is listed at $245 for 50 minutes or $360 for 80 minutes.
- Dinner. Talia Kitchen, the resort's signature restaurant, offers a three-course prix-fixe dinner on Wednesdays and Thursdays for $59 per person.
- Other spots. The Tortoise Shell, Cafe Azuli, Guenther's Lounge and Brew 1902 round out the dining list, and the site posts current hours for each.
On a Wednesday or Thursday, the Talia Kitchen prix-fixe and a local-resident pass add up to $118 at the starting prices listed. That's about $9 more than one standard day pass on its own. The resort's events calendar also lists Jazz Nights at Guenther's Lounge, along with the Guided Vitality Plunge, Clay Cove, sauna aromatherapy, a Gratitude Ceremony and Wellness Happy Hour.
Two of those names point back to the history above. Guenther's Lounge shares a name with the man who bought the land, and Brew 1902 shares the year he bought it.
What comes next
The City Council has the final decision on the designation, and it will consider the Mills Act contract under the city's own procedures. The item was not on the council's October 20 agenda. Council agendas are posted on the city's Legistar portal, where the case file and its attachments are already public. The contract can't be approved until the designation is complete.
Murrieta's landmarks are part of what makes the city feel like home, and we enjoy following stories like this one. If you're curious how a nearby landmark or a city decision might affect your own corner of Murrieta, the team at Tiffany Williams is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.
