HomeMy WebLinkAbout030904_Template-FilesHouse_1002WWashington.pdfState of California 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) Files House
P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA 0054 Date:
*c. Address 1002 West Washington Avenue City Santa Ana Zip 92706
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 405-283-28; N TR 354 LOT 42
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
This two-story residence on the southwest corner of West Washington Avenue and North Olive Street is a good example of
the Colonial Revival style. It is symmetrical in composition, topped with a side gable roof, and clad in wide clapboard. Front-
gabled dormers, each containing a round-headed window with radiating muntins, are centered above the side bays. The
modest roof overhang is detailed with a horizontal cornice that spans the façade and wraps onto the side elevations to form a
small cornice return. Projecting from the center bay of the three-bay façade, the one-story portico is the focal point of the
design. Paired Tuscan columns support the portico’s front-gable while caryatids flank the arched entry. (It is unknown
whether the caryatids are original or a modification.) An oak door way pierced by four channels of beveled glass is topped by
a fanlight and flanked by slender sidelights. The single windows in the side bays on the lower story are six-over-one double-
hung sash, with the upper sashes divided vertically into narrow lights. Similarly, the upper story windows in the side bays are
four-over-one double-hung sash. A tripartite window of three, two-over-one sash occupies the central upper bay. The east
(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 3.)
*P3b. Resource Attributes: (list attributes and codes) HP2. Single-family Property
*P4. Resources Present: Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other
P5b. Photo: (view and date)
North and east elevations
May 2003
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: historic
1925/ Source: City of Santa Ana
Building Permits
*P7. Owner and Address:
Maria Martinez
1002 West Washington Avenue
Santa Ana, CA 92706
*P8. Recorded by:
Leslie J. Heumann
SAIC
35 S. Raymond Ave. # 204
Pasadena, CA 91105
*P9. Date Recorded:
July 28, 2003
*P10. Survey Type:
Intensive Survey
*P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter “none”)
None.
*Attachments: None Location Map Sketch Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure, and Object Record
Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record
Artifact Record Photograph Record Other (list)
DPR 523A (1/95) *Required information
P5a. Photo
State of California The Resources Agency Primary #__________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#______________________________________________
BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD
Page 2 of 3 *NRHP Status Code_5S1_________________________
*Resource Name or #: Files House
B1. Historic Name: Files House
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Single-family Residence B4. Present Use: Single-family Residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Colonial Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations):
December 4, 1925. Residence and garage for Mrs. M. E. Files. $5,500.
June 25, 1928. Alterations.
April 1, 1933. Rebuild fireplace chimney.
July 6, 1937. Reroof.
January 7, 1953. Fireplace.
May 27, 1987. Install French doors.
*B7. Moved? No Yes 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 1888-1953 Property Type: Single-family Residence Applicable Criteria: C
(Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity)
The Files House is architecturally significant as a highly characteristic example of the Colonial Revival style of the 1920s. It is
also of interest as one of the homes built in the Washington Square neighborhood at the outset of the first building boom in
the area, which began in the mid 1920s. The house was built in 1925 for Mrs. Mamie E. Files, a widow, and cost $5,500.
She moved into the house with Jessie E. Files, a teacher at Garden Grove High School, Jeffie E. Files, a bookkeeper, and
Carrie B. Files, also a bookkeeper.
(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: July 28, 2003
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
Files House
1002 West Washington Street
State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________
Page 3_ of 3_ Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Files House
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, SAIC *Date July 28, 2003 ⌧ Continuation Update
DPR 523L
*P3a. Description (continued):
elevation is distinguished by an attached, red brick chimney and by small, arched windows in the gable face. A one-story,
flat-roofed addition has been made to the west elevation. No other alterations are visible. The property is surrounded by a
neatly clipped hedge, and contains a one-story, front-gabled, clapboard garage east of the house.
*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 Files House is located in Washington Square, a neighborhood located northwest of the city center bounded by West
Seventeenth Street on the north, West Civic Center Drive on the south, North Flower Street on the east, and North Bristol
Street on the west. Most of this area was owned by the family of Jacob Ross, who had purchased portions of the Rancho
Santiago de Santa Ana in 1868 and 1869. Walnuts and other crops were grown in the area during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, with a few farmhouses, most notably the Ross-McNeal House at 1020 North Baker Street, dotting
the landscape. By 1905, Baker and Towner were the only streets in the neighborhood, which extended from Hickey (now
Civic Center) only as far as Washington and which contained only about a dozen homes. The status quo had not changed
much by 1915, when a brick yard was located at the northern terminus of Olive Street at Hickey. In 1925, the beginning of
the development that would convert this largely agricultural area into a middle class neighborhood of single-family homes
over the next 25 years had begun. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Tudor Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival
homes were the standard, with American Colonial Revival saltboxes and ranch style homes favored in the years before and
after World War II. During the 1930s, many of the homes were built by local contractor Emmett Rogers, who sold lots and
built homes according to standard plans, which individual property owners could customize to their tastes (“Washington
Square: A Neighborhood of Pride,” Washington Square Neighborhood Association). With the return of servicemen
following the war and the accompanying demand for homes in southern California, the development of Washington Square
was all but completed.
The Files House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1, as a building with
the “distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or period.” Stylistic signatures such as the symmetrical two-story
massing, clapboard siding, side gable roof enlivened with dormers, central portico, and double-hung sash windows are
notable in this regard. The use of caryatids lends a highly unusual character to the design. Additionally, the house has
been categorized as “Key” because it “has a distinctive architectural style and quality” as a highly intact, textbook example of
a two-story Colonial Revival home from the 1920s. Character defining exterior features of the Files House that should be
preserved include, but may not be limited to: materials and finishes (clapboard, wood, brick); roof configuration and
treatment; massing and composition; doors and windows; portico; garage; architectural detailing (caryatids, columns,
cornice); and chimney.
*B12. References (continued):
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.
Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1905-1930.
“Washington Square: A Neighborhood with Pride.” Washington Square Neighborhood Association, no date.