About CPF and the Awards
Held in conjunction with CPF’s 2026 Annual Conference in Riverside, the 2026 Mission Inn Preservation Design Awards Ceremony and Reception will spotlight excellence in historic preservation in a setting that reflects the very spirit of the work being honored. This special evening brings together award recipients, conference participants, preservation leaders, and supporters from across California to celebrate outstanding preservation projects and leadership through the Preservation Design Awards and President’s Awards.
Founded in 1978, the California Preservation Foundation (CPF) is California’s statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of historic places and cultural heritage. Through education, advocacy, and community-centered programs, CPF supports the people, projects, and policies that keep California’s historic resources vital and valued. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.
Hotel Project Team
Project Lead or Principal
Jim Duffy
Client or Owner Firm/Organization Name
Matt Ainley
Lead Architect, Engineer, or Designer Address
William Ruoff – Ten Over Studio
Consulting Engineer
Mark Sorhouet – 4 Creeks Engineering
Consulting Engineer
Brian Starrett – 3C Engineering
Consulting Engineer
Jason Miller – Strategic Industry
Consulting Engineer
Steve Marcias – 4 Creeks
Contractor
Matt Ainley – 4GC Construction
Landscape Architect
Tyson Carroll – Wood Architecture
Specialty / Sub-Contractor
Nathan Hicks – Silman Structural
The Darling Hotel
The Darling Hotel is a winner for the 2021 Preservation Design Award for Rehabilitation. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/awards.
About The Darling Hotel
This project sought to respectfully revitalize a significant but forgotten piece of Visalia’s vibrant history with a strategy to celebrate existing elements at all scales, while honestly rehabilitating the building for modern purposes. Exterior facades were carefully restored and a seamlessly designed stair tower was the only required exterior addition. Original interior fixtures and details were meticulously preserved and, if lost, were replicated by innovatively reusing other original building components and employing modern building techniques. The hotel’s rooftop restaurant “The Elderwood” which, like the hotel, is named to honor the owner’s family, celebrates the existing building by showcasing the concrete negative of the primary facade’s Art Deco frieze as a dramatic backdrop to its bar. A dynamic, generational story of family and community reverberates through all facets of the building, making The Darling Hotel a tangible promise to continue that story for generations to come.
