HomeMy WebLinkAbout090207_Template-FullerUttHouse_2140NRoss.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 _3_ Resource name(s) or number (assigned by recorder) Fuller-Utt House P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: oNot for Publication nUnrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad Date:
*c. Address 2140 North Ross Street City Santa Ana Zip 92706
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number Block: Lot:
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
This one-story, stucco-clad residence features the picturesque asymmetry typical of the English Revival style. Steeply
pitched, the cross-gabled roof of patterned wood shingles with rolled edges is meant to suggest thatching. Gable ends are
slightly extended, with a thin notched vergeboard beneath . Tall and narrow vents with horizontal louvers pierce the gable
ends. Stucco sheathes the building. Centered on the façade, a front-gabled wing contains a slightly pointed tripartite window
whose fixed center sash is flanked by four-light casements. The window surround is cast-stone, scored to resemble
masonry. The north half of the façade displays a pair of six-over-one, double -hung sash windows, also framed with scored
cast-stone. The same scored cast stone, with a faux keystone, surrounds a large fixed -pane window marking the south half
of the façade. Elevated three steps and facing south from the central wing, the recessed entry, accented by a cast stone
surround, consists of a wo od door accented with a small stained -glass window screened with spindlework . Fenestration on
the side elevation s includes additional double -hung sash windows, in both six-over-one and one-over-one configurations.
Located in the southwest corner of the property, the original garage features sliding wood doors with vertical siding and a
stepped parapet wall. Alterations include substitution of French doors for a window on the rear elevation of the house and
the addition of tile to the garage roof. The h ouse appears substantially intact otherwise and is enhanced by mature trees and
landscaping.
*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)
East elevation
August 2007
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: nhistoric
1930/City of Santa Ana Building
Permits
*P7. Owner and Address:
*P8. Recorded by:
L. Heumann and D .Howell-Ardila
Sapphos Environmental, Inc.
133 Martin Alley
Pasadena, California 91105
*P9. Date Recorded:
August 3 , 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
oArchaeological 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 3 *CHR Status Code _5S1__________________________
*Resource Name or #: Fuller-Utt House B1. Historic Name: Fuller-Utt House
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Single -family Residence B4. Present Use: Single-family Residence
*B5. Architectural Style: English Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations): Constructed in 1930
November 1 , 1930. Residence and garage constructed for $5,000.
*B7. Moved? n No o Yes o Unknown Date:______ Original Location:_ ____________________
*B8. Related Features:
Garage.
B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown
*B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area Santa Ana
Period of Significance: circa 1895-1965 Property Type: Single-family Residence 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 Fuller-Utt House is architecturally significant as an intact and representative example of the English Revival style and
historically notable for its association with a prominent Santa Ana resident, James Utt. The original building permit, issued in
November 1930, indicates that the house was built for $5,000 by Roy Roscoe Russell, one of the original developers of Floral Park .
When the improvement first appeared in city directories in 1932 , Ralph D. Fuller, an assistant trust officer with the Bank of America,
and his wife Edna were listed as the home’s first occupants. By 1936, the residence was the home of James B. Utt, whose father
Charles had been one of the founders and early settlers of Tustin, California. James Utt and his wife Charlena remained in the
home until 1939 . During this time, Utt served as assemblyman for the 74th district in the California State Assembly. By 1937, Utt
had been appointed state inheritance tax appraiser, a position he held until 1952. (In 1953, Utt began a nearly twenty-year term as
a congressperson in the United States House of Representatives.) From 1939 to at least the early 1960s, Mrs. Mattie C. Long, who
operated a hemstitching and button shop on Fourth Street, occupied the residence.
(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 3.)
B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes)
*B12. References:
City of Santa Ana Building Permits
Santa Ana History Room Collection, Santa Ana Public Library
Sanborn Maps
(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 3.)
B13. Remarks:
*B14. Evaluator: Leslie J. Heumann
*Date of Evaluation: August 3, 2007
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
State of California ¾ The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________
Page 3_ of 3_ Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Fuller-Utt House
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howell -Ardila *Date August 3, 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 around 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 to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with
cultivated fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses.
The Fuller-Utt House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by East
Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados, and walnuts and
widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897-1981),
credited as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, a rrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls,
New York in 1922 (Talbert, pages 353 -356). “Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land.
And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana” (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel
chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. “When built in the 1920s, the
Floral Park homes were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each” (Orange County
Register, September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and
1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival.
The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa
Ana City Hall, the El Toro Marine Base during World War II, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the
neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clara Avenue.
In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral
Park. An early Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa
Clara Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell’s own large, Colonial
Revival mansion at 2009 Victoria Drive. In the early post World War II years, Floral Park continued its development a s
numerous, smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style.
In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park . Today (2007) Floral Park maintains its
identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
The Fuller-Utt House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the English Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the
house include its asymmetrical arrangement of elements; combination of stucco cladding with sparse ornament; shingle roof
with rolled edges; pointed or Tudor-arched window; tripartite window configuration ; attached brick chimney; and its emphasis
on vertical features such as the steeply pitched gables. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Contributive”
because it “contributes to the overall character and history” of Santa Ana, and, as an example of the English Revival style “is
a good example of period architecture.” Character-defining exterior features of the Fuller-Utt House that should be preserved
include, but may not be limited to , materials and finishes (stucco, wood, and cast stone); roof configuration and detailing;
original windows and doors where extant; chimney; architectural details such as the shingles with rolled edges and cast stone
surrounds..
*B12. References (continue d):
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 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.
Armor, Samuel. History of Orange County. Los Angeles: History Record Company, 1921.
Franklin, Don. “NW Santa Ana History: Roy Russell & Son, Builders.” Unsourced article from the Santa Ana History Room
Historic House File, circa 1995.
Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1930-1962.
“Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Utt, Jam es Boyd, (1899 -1970). Available at
http://bioguide.congress.gov
“James Boyd Utt.” Available at www.findagrave.com