HomeMy WebLinkAbout080207_Template-MendozaHouse_405SFranklin.pdfState of California ¾ The Resources Agency Primary #______________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #__________________________________________________
PRIMARY RECORD Trinomial______________________________________________
NRHP Status Code _____________________________________
Other Listings _____________________________________________________________________
Review Code ________ Reviewer________________________ Date_______________
Page _1_ of _4_ Resource name(s) or number (assigned by recorder) Mendoza House P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: oNot for Publication nUnrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA1667 Date:
*c. Address 405 S. Franklin Street City Santa Ana Zip 92703
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 007-272-07
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
This one-story, horizontal wood-clad residence is a modest but highly intact example of a Colonial Revival bungalow.
Featuring a symmetrically arrange d west façade, the residence i s capped by a low-pitched, side-gable roof with shallow,
boxed eaves. The façade’s principal design feature is a pedimented front gable, which projects from the façade to shelter a
partial-length porch. Elevated on three steps, the porch is unenclosed. Partial cornice returns mark the pediment, inside
which the gable wall is recessed and sheated in vertical wood cladding. Applied heraldic ornament accents the center of the
gable . A set of Tuscan columns supports the porch, beneath which the front-facing entryway is sheltered. The front entrance
consists of a centered wood door flanked by 2 -over-5 side lights, with plain wood surrounds and flared lintel. Fenestration
consists of a tripartite window with a fixed center pane, flanked by 4 -over-1 double-hung sashes, framed by plain wood
surrounds, projecting sills, and a flared lintel on the south half of the façade. The north side of the west façade displays a pair
of six-over-one double-hung sash windows with similar surrounds. This window configuration and design is repeated on the
side elevations. Alterations include a non-contributive garage at the property’s rear southeast corner and metal screen door
on the front entrance. The residence otherwise retains a good level of integrity.
*P3b. Resource Attributes: (list attributes and codes) HP2. Single-family Property
*P4. Resources Present: nBuilding oStructure oObject oSite oDistrict oElement of District oOther
P5b. Photo: (view and date)
West elevation
June 2007
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: nhistoric
1918/City of Santa Ana Database
*P7. Owner and Address:
Toribio Puga
405 S. Franklin Street
Santa Ana, CA 92703
*P8. Recorded by:
S. Carmack and D. Howell-Ardila
Sapphos Environmental, Inc.
133 Martin Alley
Pasadena, California 91105
*P9. Date Recorded:
July 1 , 2007
*P10. Survey Type:
Intensive Survey Update
*P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter “none”)
None.
*Attachments: oNone oLocation Map oSketch Map nContinuation Sheet nBuilding, Structure, and Object Record
oArchaeologi cal Record oDistrict Record oLinear Feature Record oMilling Station Record oRock Art Record
oArtifact Record oPhotograph Record o Other (list)
DPR 523A (1/95) *Required information
P5a. Photo
State of California ¾ The Resources Agency Primary #__________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#______________________________________________
BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD
Page 2 of 4 *CHR Status Code _5S1__________________________
*Resource Name or #: Mendoza House
B1. Historic Name: Mendoza House
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Single -family Residence B4. Present Use: Single-family Residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Colonial Revival Bungalow
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations): Constructed in 19 18
July 16, 1952. Relocate house, $4,000, from 1027 Fairfax, Los Angeles.
October 29, 1952. Sewer installed for G. Mendoza, $500.
November 21, 1952. Test heater and thermostat.
November 28, 1952. Gas released.
December 11, 1952. Fourteen outlets added to residence.
February 9, 1977. Unspecified plumbing repairs.
April 6, 1977. Unspecified plumbing repairs.
November 12, 1986. Reroof.
*B7. Moved? o No n Yes o Unknown Date:_July 16, 1952. Original Location:_1027 Fairfax, Los Angeles_________
*B8. Related Features:
None.
B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown
*B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area Santa Ana
Period of Significance: Circa 1 900-1959 Property Type: Commercial Applicable Criteria: NR: C; CR: 3
(Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity)
The Mendoza House is architecturally significant as a n intact and representative example of a Colonial Revival Bungalow in
the Casa Bonita neighborhood constructed during its second period of residential subdivision and settlement, the post-World
War II period. Constructed in 1918, the house was relocated to its present location in July 1952 by owner Francisco Mendoza.
Mendoza and his wife Antonio owned the house through the 1970s.
(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 4.)
B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes)
*B12. References:
Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Western Division
Laboratory. Aerial map. Santa Ana, California, 1938, #22-38.
Bitetti, Marge, Guy Ball, and the Santa Ana Historic Preservation
Society. Early Santa Ana. Charleston, San Francisco, Chicago,
Portsmouth, Arcadia Press, 2006.
City of Santa Ana Building Permits
(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 4.)
B13. Remarks:
*B14. Evaluator: S. Carmack and D. Howell-Ardila
*Date of Evaluation: July 1 , 2007
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
405 S. Franklin Street
007-272-07
State of California ¾ The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________
Page 3_ of 4_ Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Mendoza House
*Recorded by Shannon Carmack and Deborah Howell -Ardila *Date July 1 , 2007 x Continuation o Update
DPR 523L
*B10. Significance (continued):
Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative town site on part of the Spanish land grant known as
Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The civic and commercial core of the community was centered at the intersection of Main
and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection as
the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods developing
around the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with cultivated fields and orchards dotted with
widely scattered farmhouses.
The Mendoza House is located in the Casa Bonita neighborhood, southwest of the historic comm ercial and civic center and
bounded roughly by First Street on the north, Raitt Street on the east, Willits Street on the south, and Center Street on the
west. In the early twentieth century, this neighborhood represented the southwestern portion of Santa Ana. By 1912,
agricultural development had arrived to the neighborhood and Artesia, Willits, and First were the only streets in place. At that
time, Casa Bonita could be broken down into three areas. The northwestern corner was occupied in 1912 by the Mo rton
Dairy Company, which included a portion of the 1874 Sepulveda Tract. This area spanned an unsubdivided 30 -acre site that
remained intact and agricultural (with orchards) until 1955, when it was subdivided for residential and commercial
development. The northeastern corner, spanning present-day Daisy to Raitt streets and First to Myrtle streets, consisted of
two unsubdivided parcels owned by Grubb and Huse; when subdivided and presented as Franklin Place in 1922, this area
represented the neighborhood’s earliest residential subdivision. The southern portion of Casa Bonita consisted of two 10-
acre blocks of a tract known as Plaza Rancho, which was subdivided in the 1920s but remained agricultural until residential
subdivision in 1955.
With the 1922 subdivision of Franklin Place, residential development came slowly to Casa Bonita. The original owner of
Franklin Place was real estate investor Alcedas B. Rousselle, who, by 1923, had already begun selling land to other
investors, many of whom held multi ple parcels. By 1925, approximately 40 percent of the lots showed improvements, with
this number increasing slightly throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Only with widespread residential expansion in the post-
World War II period did the number of improvements show a sizeable jump in Franklin Place. As of 2007, two -thirds of the
extant residences were constructed after 1945.
Franklin Place was the only residential development in Casa Bonita until the mid-1950s, when tract housing replaced
farmland south of Myrtle, between Raitt and Center streets. By 1959, the orchards occupying Casa Bonita’s 30-acre
northwestern corner had been removed and the land graded in preparation for commercial development. Apartment
buildings were constructed along Myrtle Street, and Walnut and Willits streets were added between 1955 and 1959. The
existing street configuration reflects changes made in this period to Artesia and Raitt streets. Since the early twentieth
century, Artesia Street terminated south of Myrtle, and Raitt Street, in place since at least 1906 , stretched from Edinger
Avenue up to today’s Willits Street. Named for Santa Ana pioneer dairyman James T. Raitt, the north end of Raitt Street was
connected to the southern terminus of Artesia Street with a short diagonal line in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s,
Artesia Street was changed to Raitt Street in honor of Santa Ana pioneer James T. Raitt.
In the early 1960s, Artesia Street was changed to Raitt Street in honor of Santa Ana pioneer dairyman James T. Raitt. Raitt
moved to Santa Ana in 1886 at the age of 18 and, in 1890, began his dairy business with a total holding of seven cows. By
1905, Raitt owned approximately 180 acres, 20 of which were located adjacent to Casa Bonita (by 1906, the western border
of th is property had become Raitt Street). Raitt’s dairy business thrived, and by 1925, the company had constructed two
offices at 1100 S. Bristol Street and 1008 East Fourth Street (the latter now occupied by Tom’s Trucks). Other Raitt family
members are also culturally significant to the region, state, and nation. John’s son Archie Raitt was the first secretary of the
North County YMCA. John Raitt, the grandson of James, became a famous Broadway singer and comedian. Following in
John’s footsteps was daughter Bonnie Raitt, who is a nine-time Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for
her blues and R&B-influenced music.
(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 4.)
State of California ¾ The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________
Page 4_ of 4_ Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Mendoza House
*Recorded by Shannon Carmack and Deborah Howell -Ardila *Date July 1 , 2007 x Continuation o Update
DPR 523L
*B10. Significance (continued):
The Mendoza House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of a Colonial Revival b ungalow. Typical features of this style illustrated by
the house include the symmetrical arrangement of elements on the façade; side-gabled roof and projecting front-gabled
porch with partial cornice returns; Tuscan columns supporting the porch; centered entryway with sidelights; heraldic ornament
in gable apex; shallow overhanging eaves with boxed soffits; double-hung sash windows , in a tripartite configuration, with
flared lintels and wood surrounds. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Contributive” because it “contributes to
the overall character and history” of Santa Ana, and, as an intact example of a Colonial Revival b ungalow in the Casa Bonita
neighborhood, “is a good example of period architecture.” Character-defining exterior features of the Mendoza House that
should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and finishes (horizontal wood siding); roof configuration and
detailing; boxed eaves; massing; original windows and doors and their surrounds where extant; partial-length porch; and
architectural details such as the Tuscan columns, heraldic ornament, vertical wood-cladding in gable.
*B12. References (continued):
Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc. Orange County, California, City of Santa Ana, Index #12-58. Los Angeles, 30 August 1947.
Finley, S.H. Map of Orange County, California. Santa Ana, 1908.
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.
McFadden, Iva M. How They Worked It: Dairymen Combine to Solve Problem . Los Angeles Times. 19 October 1930.
National Register Bulletin 16A. “How to Complete the National Register Registration Form.” Washington DC: National
Register Branch, National Park Service, US Dept. of the Interior, 1991.
Office of Historic Preservation. “Instructions for Recording Historical Resources.” Sacramento: March 1995.
Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780 . Cambridge, MIT Press, 1969.
Orange County Archives. Aerial Maps, Santa Ana. 1955 and 1959.
Orange County Plat Maps, 1912.
Orange County Tax Assessor Records, 1905, 1921 -1924, 1925 -1928, 1929 -1932.
Orange County Tract Maps. Franklin Place, portion of north quarter of Section 14. January 1922.
Sanborn Maps
Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1905 -1965.
Santa Ana History Room Collection, Santa Ana Public Library
Thomas Brothers Maps of Orange County, 1957 and 1964.