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HomeMy WebLinkAbout031231_Template-McCowanHouse_214ESantaClara.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 _4_ Resource name(s) or number (assigned by recorder) McCowan House P1. Other Identifier: *P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County *b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA 1725 Date: *c. Address 214 East Santa Clara Avenue City Santa Ana Zip 92706 *e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 003-110-02; DERICOT TR LOT 11 LOT 72 X 200 FT *P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.) Hidden from the street by a tall hedge, this two-story, Colonial Revival farmhouse occupies a large parcel that attests to its agricultural origins. The house is sheathed with wide shiplap siding trimmed with corner boards and capped by a hipped roof with boxed eaves. Spanning the lower story façade, a one-story, hipped roof projection may have been a porch. Offset from center to the west, a recessed entry features sidelights and a fanlight. Fluted pilasters, a plain frieze, a dentil course, and an unadorned pediment frame the opening. The shallow front porch steps, steps to a secondary entry on the east, and an interior chimney are of brick. Windows are six-over-six double-hung sash in type. A porte cochere extends over the driveway on the east side of the house while a small, one-story wing extends from the west elevation. A two-story building containing the garage and an additional living area is located in the rear of the property. Surrounded by a brick planter, a mature evergreen tree towers over the house. The residence appears to retain substantial integrity to the early part of the twentieth century despite the porch enclosure and a large addition constructed, apparently in the rear, in 1988. *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 December 2003 *P6. Date Constructed/Age and Sources: historic Circa 1886/Source: Les, 1980. *P7. Owner and Address: John C. and Leslie Sherman 214 East Santa Clara Avenue Santa Ana, CA 92706 *P8. Recorded by: Leslie J. Heumann SAIC 35 S. Raymond Ave. # 204 Pasadena, CA 91105 *P9. Date Recorded: December 31, 2003 *P10. Survey Type: Intensive Survey Update *P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter “none”) Les, Kathleen. “214 East Santa Clara Avenue.” Historic Resources Survey, March 1980. *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 4 *NRHP Status Code_5S3_________________________ *Resource Name or #: McCowan House B1. Historic Name: McCowan 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): Constructed circa 1886. January 19, 1938. Alter and repair residence, build garage. September 5, 1975. Install new siding (building to be used for garage and storage only). August 18, 1981. Convert 2nd story over garage to living. August 31, 1982. Domestic solar system. (See Continuation Sheet 3 of 4.) *B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:__________ Original Location:_____________________________ *B8. Related Features: Mature Redwood tree in front yard. B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown *B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area Santa Ana Period of Significance: circa 1886-1954 Property Type: Single-family Residence Applicable Criteria: NR: A, C; CR: 1,3 (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity) The McCowan House is historically significant as one of the oldest, if not the oldest, farmhouses in the Park Santiago neighborhood. It is also architecturally notable as an example of a two-story, Colonial Revival styled farmhouse that reflects remodeling during the early twentieth century. The hipped roof and Classical embellishments of the house suggest that its original appearance may have been that of the “Classic Box” variant of the Colonial Revival. According to previous research, the house was constructed circa 1886 (Les, 1980). It can be traced back to 1918 in the city directories under “214 East Santa Clara,” when the owner was Lucy McCowan, widow of Allen McCowan, a rancher, who died on November 8, 1917 Earlier listings in the directories placed the McCowans at 140 East Santa Clara and a notation in the 1910-1911 directory (See Continuation Sheet 3 of 4.) 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 4.) B13. Remarks: *B14. Evaluator: Leslie J. Heumann *Date of Evaluation: December 31, 2003 DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information Sketch Map (This space reserved for official comments.) McCowan House 214 East Santa Clara Avenue State of California  The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________ CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________ Page 3_ of 4_ Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) McCowan House *Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, SAIC *Date December 31, 2003 ⌧ Continuation Update DPR 523L *B6. Construction History (continued): November 4, 1982. Add 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, family room, laundry (480 square feet 1st, 919 square feet 2nd). November 2, 1988. Demo laundry rooms. March 28, 1990. Install beam at south side of stairway. March 8, 1991. Add outside emergency stairway. *B10. Significance (continued): indicating that the street had been re-numbered suggests that the two properties, 214 and 140, may be one and the same. Allen McCowan first appeared at 140 in the 1908-1909 directory; in 1905, he resided at 2377 North Main Street, which conceivably also refers to the same property. The earliest listing in the available city directories for 140 is 1901, when H. Phelps, a rancher, and his wife occupied the house. The McCowan House is located in the Park Santiago neighborhood, near the present northern city limits of Santa Ana and substantially north of the original city core. The neighborhood is bounded by Santiago Creek and Park on the north, East Seventeenth Street on the south, North Lincoln Avenue on the east, North Main Street on the west, and the I-5 freeway on the southwest. In large part these boundaries reflect the transportation lines that were constructed towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Pacific Electric interurban railroad ran up Main Street; the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe tracks followed Lincoln; and the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way mirrored the freeway route. This area remained primarily agricultural well into the 1920s. As of 1905, the city directories listed around twenty households on East Santa Clara, Twentieth Street, “C Street” (now North Santiago Street), North Bush Street and North Main Avenue, the only streets in the area at the time. The vast majority of the residents were ranchers. By 1911, the number of households had increased to about thirty, and Edgewood Road and Valencia Street had been partially laid out, but most residents continued to list “rancher” or “fruit grower” as their occupation in the city directories. This pattern of land use was evident on the 1912 plat map of the City, which illustrated two small, Craftsman era subdivisions along Bush north of Santa Clara and on Valencia and Poinsettia south of Twentieth Street, with the remaining area divided into larger, agricultural parcels held by approximately forty landowners. While the area east of Santiago Street was not subdivided until after the mid-1920s, most of the present day streets west of Santiago had been laid out when the City was mapped in 1923. Ranching continued to be the most prevalent occupation in the neighborhood, but increasing numbers of professionals, small business owners, merchants, and people in service professions such as painters, electricians, and carpenters made their homes in the western half of the neighborhood during the 1920s and 1930s. The area also attracted several city and county officials, including the City Attorney (Z. B. West, Jr., 321 East Santa Clara Avenue), County Supervisor, First District (C. H. Chapman, 2315 North Santiago Street), County Surveyor (E. H. Irwin, 2407 North Santiago Street), and County Auditor (William C. Jerome, 2422 Poinsettia Street). By April 1942, when the Sanborn Company first mapped the western half of the area, most of the lots had been improved with single-family homes, many in the revival styles popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Subsequent development of the eastern half of the neighborhood and infill construction in the western half displayed the simplified ranch style that emerged following World War II. The McCowan House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1, for its representation of the distinguishing characteristics of the Colonial Revival style, and under Criterion 7, as a building connected with a business or use, agriculture, which was once common and is now rare. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Landmark” because it “has a historical/cultural significance to the City of Santa Ana” as a farmhouse surviving from the agricultural era in Santa Ana. Characteristic Colonial Revival features include the nearly symmetrical design, hipped roof and rectangular massing, Classical Revival entry, and six-over-six double-hung sash windows. Character-defining exterior features of the McCowan House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to: sheathing (siding) and materials (brick); roof configuration and detailing; massing; windows and doors; entry; architectural details (corner boards, entry pilasters and entablature); and mature trees. State of California  The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________ CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________ Page 4_ of 4_ Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) McCowan House *Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, SAIC *Date December 31, 2003 ⌧ Continuation Update DPR 523L *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. Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969. Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1901-1930. Historic Maps, Santa Ana History Room, 1912, 1923, 1932, and 1955. P5a. Photograph North elevation, December 2003.