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HomeMy WebLinkAbout010501_Template-HoweWaffleHouse_120WCivicCenter.pdfPage 1 of 5 cm\historic\templates\Civic Center 120 W 6/19/01 NAME Dr. Howe-Waffle House REF. NO. 2 ADDRESS 120 West Civic Center Drive CITY Santa Ana ZIP 92701 ORANGE COUNTY YEAR BUILT 1887-1889 LOCAL REGISTER CATEGORY: Landmark HISTORIC DISTRICT Santa Ana Downtown NEIGHBORHOOD N/A NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION A, B, C NATIONAL REGISTER STATUS CODE 1B Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted USGS 7.5” Quad Date: T R ¼ of ¼ of Sec : B.M. Prehistoric Historic Both ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Late Victorian/Queen Anne DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND RELATED TO PERIOD ARCHITECTURE: The Late Victorian/Queen Anne (also known as the Queen Anne Revival) dominated residential architectural design during the last 20 years of the 19th century in the West, and was nearly as influential on early commercial buildings. Identifying features include the front-facing gable roof, ornate decoration of wood or metal along the eave and in the gable end, avoidance of flat wall surfaces through the use of applied ornamentation of wood or metal, and classical columns or pilasters. Multi-storied residential and commercial examples often incorporated bay windows, sometimes topped with towers. The style borrowed heavily from late Medieval models, with the addition of other regional interpretations. Some of the most well-developed examples can be found in California and in the southern states (McAlester, 263-268). Page 2 of 5 cm\historic\templates\Civic Center 120 W 6/19/01 CONSTRUCTION HISTORY: (Construction data, alterations, and date of alterations) Constructed in 1887-1889. October 13, 1975: Relocate single-family residence and accessory building. March 3, 1976: Install stairs and ramp. November 18, 1976: Fire sprinklers. RELATED FEATURES: (Other important features such as barns, sheds, fences, prominent or unusual trees, or landscape) Carriage House. DESCRIPTION: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, settings, and boundaries.) An outstanding example of the Queen Anne Revival style, the Dr. Howe-Waffle House is a two and a half story, twelve room, wood frame structure with a rectangular building plan. The original dual function of the house, as a home and a doctor’s office, is reflected in the equal attention given to the design of both the west and north facades and the presence of principal building entries on each of the two elevations. As was characteristic of the Queen Anne, the Dr. Howe-Waffle House has a complex roof consisting of hips, gables, a rounded dormer perched at the peak of the hip, and a somewhat onion-shaped dome surmounting a bay on the northwest corner of the building. Finials accent the roofline. Soffits are enclosed and the eaves are banded by a plain frieze that contrasts with the patterned shingling that sheathes the second story. Horizontal siding covers the lower story. A rounded porch off the house entrance at the southwest corner of the building was enclosed at the turn of the 20th century. The entry, elevated a half dozen steps above street level, is announced by a front gabled hood whose gable face is ornamented with a sunburst. Above and behind the gable, a balustrade delineates a second floor balcony. A second balcony occupies the upper level of a two-story cant bay located on the north elevation. Arched openings within a lattice screen define this balcony. An oriel is attached to the second-story northwest corner of the building and is topped by the aforementioned onion dome. Windows include one-over-one double-hung sash, stained glass in the oriel transoms and elsewhere, and a large round headed window which faces west. Both this window and a tripartite opening on the north elevation are lavishly embellished with decorated panels and spandrels and carved aprons. Historic photographs indicate that the Dr. Howe-Waffle House retains a high degree of integrity. Dr. Howe-Waffle made two changes within 20 years of the house’s construction, the enclosure of the southwest porch and the addition of the waiting room to the northeast corner. Other changes, such as the construction of a new foundation, resulted from the relocation of the house in 1975; these do not detract from the authenticity of the house. Both interior and exterior have been restored and the property currently functions as a historic house museum. Also moved to the site, a one-story carriage house is located east of the house, along the Civic Center Drive frontage. The carriage house has board and batten siding and a hipped roof. The original fenestration has been replaced. HISTORIC HIGHLIGHTS: The Dr. Howe-Waffle House was constructed over a period of two years between 1887 and 1889 by married physicians, Drs. Alvin and Willela Howe. Originally located at 702 North Bush Street, the property was part of a walnut orchard operated by the Fruit family. Dr. Willela Howe-Waffle, a Virginian by birth, who had come to California via Missouri, received her medical training at the Hahnemann Medical College in Chicago. She began her practice in Santa Ana in 1886, becoming one of a handful of pioneer doctors in the young city and one of a very few female physicians in the region. She and her husband, who was also the second mayor of Santa Ana, moved into the house with their two daughters in 1889. However, the family only enjoyed a single year in residence together; Dr. Alvin Howe moved to San Francisco in the wake of a grand jury indictment (he was subsequently cleared). The Howes divorced in 1897. Dr. Willela Howe subsequently married Edson Waffle, partner in Waffle and West Livery and Carriages, and continued to live in the house until her death in 1924 at the age of 70. She is remembered for the effect she had on the lives of residents of the county, having delivered over 1,000 babies and treated many others over the course of her career, for her community activism, and for her involvement with local institutions such as the Episcopal Church of the Messiah and Santa Ana Hospital. After Page 3 of 5 cm\historic\templates\Civic Center 120 W 6/19/01 her death, Edson Waffle moved to his ranch in the Tustin area and a Dr. Watson purchased the house as well as Dr. Howe-Waffle’s medical practice. The house passed through several hands after that, until it was rescued from the threat of demolition by the combined efforts of the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society and the City of Santa Ana. The house was moved to its present location on West Civic Center Drive in 1975. RESOURCE ATTRIBUTES: (List attributes and codes from Appendix 4 of Instructions for Recording Historical Resources, Office of Historic Preservation.) HP2. Single-family Property RESOURCES PRESENT: Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other MOVED? No Yes Unknown Date: 1975 Original Location: 702 North Bush Street STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, geographic scope, and integrity.) Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative townsite on part of the Spanish land grant known as Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Early growth and development was stimulated by the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1878 and the Santa Fe Railroad in 1886. By the end of the 1880s, Santa Ana’s downtown business district was defined by five city blocks of brick commercial buildings on Fourth Street, with the heart of the city at the intersection of Fourth and Main Streets (Thomas, 8:1). Following its incorporation as a city in 1886, Santa Ana was recognized as one of the leading communities in the area in 1889 when it became the seat of the newly created County of Orange. The Howe-Waffle House is historically significant for its association with Dr. Willela Howe-Waffle, one of the earliest doctors in Santa Ana and a pioneer woman doctor in Orange County at a time when medicine was generally felt to be the province of men. Dr. Howe-Waffle both lived and practiced in the house throughout the entirety of her medical career. The house is also historically significant as the embodiment of the prosperous years of the Southern California real estate boom of 1886-1888. While the founding of Santa Ana was not a product of the boom, Santa Ana enjoyed a period of growth as a result of it, manifested in a spurt of construction which included lavish Queen Anne Revival and other late Victorian era style homes. The Howe-Waffle House is architecturally significant as one of the best examples of the Queen Anne Revival style in Santa Ana, both at the time it was built and now, when only a few have survived the intervening century. With exception of any non-original features that may have resulted from the relocation of the building or its use after the Howe-Waffle period, all exterior features and materials and most interior spaces of the Howe-Waffle House should be treated as character-defining and should be preserved. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION: This building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as an individual resource and in 1984 as a contributor to the Downtown Historic District. Under the regulations implementing the California Register of Historical Resources, the building is also listed in the California Register. The Dr. Howe-Waffle House was the second resource in Santa Ana to be listed in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property, second only to the Old Orange County Courthouse. It has been categorized as “Landmark” because the building “is on the national register,” “is on the state register,” “has historical/cultural significance to the City of Santa Ana,” and has “unique architectural significance” (Municipal Code Section 30-2.2(1)). Page 4 of 5 cm\historic\templates\Civic Center 120 W 6/19/01 OWNER AND ADDRESS: City of Santa Ana P.O. Box 1988 (M-25) Santa Ana, CA 92702 RECORDED BY: (Name, affiliation, and address) Leslie Heumann Science Applications International Corporation 35 S. Raymond Avenue, Suite 204, Pasadena, CA 91105 DATE RECORDED: May 1, 2001 SURVEY TYPE: (Intensive, reconnaissance, or other) Intensive Survey Update REPORT CITATION: (Cite survey report and other sources) Les, Kathleen. “Santa Ana Historic Survey, Final Resources Inventory: Downtown.” May 1980. Thomas, Harold M. “Downtown Santa Ana Historic District” National Register nomination form, 1984. REFERENCES: (List documents, date of publication, and page numbers. May also include oral interviews.) Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York, WW Norton, 1998. Marsh, Diann. Santa Ana, An Illustrated History. Encinitas, Heritage Publishing, 1994. McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. National Register Bulletin 16A. “How to Complete the National Register Registration Form.” Washington DC: National Register Branch, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 1991. Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969. www.SantaAnaHistory.com EVALUATOR: Leslie J. Heumann DATE OF EVALUATION: May 1, 2001 Page 5 of 5 cm\historic\templates\Civic Center 120 W 6/19/01 EXPLANATION OF CODES: • National Register Criteria for Evaluation: (From Appendix 7 of Instructions for Recording Historical Resources, Office of Historic Preservation) A: that are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. B: that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. C: that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. • National Register Status Code: (From Appendix 2 of Instructions for Recording Historical Resources, Office of Historic Preservation) 1B: Listed in the National Register separately and as a contributor to a listed district.