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HomeMy WebLinkAbout001109_Template-201EWashington_KeechKlatt.pdf Page 1 of 4 LL\HRC|Categorizations\keech-klatt 12-07-00 NAME Keech-Klatt House REF. NO. 231 ADDRESS 201 East Washington Avenue CITY Santa Ana ZIP 92701 ORANGE COUNTY YEAR BUILT 1899 LOCAL REGISTER CATEGORY: Landmark HISTORIC DISTRICT French Park NEIGHBORHOOD French Park NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION A, C NATIONAL REGISTER STATUS CODE 1D Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted USGS 7.5” Quad Date: T R ¼ of ¼ of Sec : B.M. Prehistoric Historic Both ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Colonial Revival with Classical Revival elements DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND RELATED TO PERIOD ARCHITECTURE: The Colonial Revival style is one of the revival styles that spans from 1880 to 1955 reaching its apex between 1895 and 1915. The style is often a combination of various Colonial styles and contemporary elements. It is characterized for its simplicity and dignified formality. The volumes are generally simple and rectangular. Identifying features of the style include an accentuated front door, normally with decorative crown (pediment) supported by pilasters or extended forward and supported by slender columns to form an entry porch; doors commonly have overhead fanlights or sidelights and many have broken pediments. Other identifying features include the symmetrical placement of windows and centered doors, windows with double hung sashes, usually with multi-pane glazing and windows frequently in adjacent pairs. Hip roofs appear more frequently on the earlier examples of the period, while the later houses have side gabled roofs. Page 2 of 4 LL\HRC|Categorizations\keech-klatt 12-07-00 CONSTRUCTION HISTORY: (Construction data, alterations, and date of alterations) Alteration and Repair to Dwelling November 6, 1919 Rebuild fireplace Chimney April 20, 1933 Reroof November 9, 1936 Reroof May 27, 1983 Wrought Iron fence May 1, 1989 Reroof House and Garage August 3, 1989 RELATED FEATURES: (Other important features such as barns, sheds, fences, prominent or unusual trees, or landscape) Original garage at rear of property DESCRIPTION: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, settings, and boundaries.) The Keech-Klatt house is a rectangular, 2-story structure capped with a hip roof and a full width, single story front porch. The main roof has wide enclosed eaves with closely spaced carved brackets. A front facing hipped roof dormer with wide enclosed eaves is centered on the roof. The dormer is decorated with carved brackets, molding-trimmed panels and a balcony with a plain baluster. Gabled dormers with tight barges are centered on the west and east sides of the roof. Each has a pair of arched double-hung windows. A centered square bay, with a trio window composition made of a horizontal window with a cast plaster ornament below, and flanked by a double-hung window on each side, is the centerpiece for the second floor, front façade. Double–hung windows are used throughout the rest of the second floor. A bellcast, hipped roof tops the full first floor porch. Two pairs and two trios (at the corners) of round wooden columns, edged in molding and supported on clapboard-clad piers, support the porch roof. A balustrade with closely- spaced balusters runs between the piers. The centered front door is accented with a large window, decorative panels, and multi-paned sidelights. A slanted bay window, accented with a plate glass window, leaded glass transom, and double-hung windows is located on the east side of the front door, while a plate glass window with leaded glass transom is located on the west side. A square bay with bellcast roof, centered half way between the stories on the west side of the house indicates the location of the interior stairway. Screened porches occupy the rear northwest and northeast corners. The defining features that make this building a Colonial Revival include its rectangular plan and symmetrical façade. Other defining features include the hipped roof with hipped and gabled dormers; the wide, enclosed eaves with closely spaced brackets; the full-width front porch and bellcast roof; the centered front door with sidelights; the rectangular, double hung sash windows; and the use of bay windows. Other elements, such as the second floor trio window composition with cast plaster ornament on the front façade; the paired columns at the porch, and the hip roof front dormer with a balcony are Classical Revival features. HISTORIC HIGHLIGHTS: Architect G. S. Garrett designed this house for the first owners, Eugene Erwin and Amelia Keech in 1899. Mr. Keech was one of the best-known water rights attorneys in California and was serving as president of the Orange County Bar Association at the time of his death in a car/train accident on March 30, 1917. Having a particular expertise in water rights, he was legal advisor for the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company for over 25 years and for the Anaheim Union Water Company. He was among the leaders in the movements for political reform in California and took an active part in local politics. Arriving in Santa Ana in 1887, he worked as a surveyor and City engineer before being admitted to the California Bar Association in 1888. Mr. Keech was author for the State law under which river protection districts were formed. Additionally, murder-mystery author Earl Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason series and others) is said to have visited the house and to have consulted with Mr. Keech while researching his books. Carl J. and Lena A. Klatt bought this house for their large family in 1920. The Klatt’s arrived in Santa Ana in 1909 and purchased an orange grove on 17th Street, near Tustin Avenue. He served as director of Tustin Hills Citrus Association for more than 50 years. Prominent citizens in the city, they belonged to several civic organizations such as the Elks, Rotary Club of Santa Ana, Santa Ana Council and Knights of Columbus. Mr. Klatt was instrumental in establishing the St. Joseph Parish School in Santa Ana and St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. Page 3 of 4 LL\HRC|Categorizations\keech-klatt 12-07-00 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: Original Location: STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, geographic scope, and integrity.) The Keech-Klatt house is an example of residential architecture built during the City of Santa Ana’s formation years to house the wealthier members of society. This large, two-story single-family residence is located in French Park Historic District, a district advertised as the “Nob Hill” of Orange County. French Park was home to many prominent businessmen, doctors, bankers, attorneys and civil servants from 1880 to the early 1940’s. The Keech-Klatt House is listed as a contributing structure to the historic architectural integrity of French Park Historic District. This house is in excellent, unaltered condition, and on its original site. There are few surviving houses in French Park that are of this scale and level of architectural integrity. There have been no additional buildings built on the site and the large lot of this house and its generous setback remains as a reminder of 1900’s development standards of the City. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION: This building is eligible to be placed on the National Register because of the building’s prominence and significance to the development of French Park. Additionally, this building has a unique architectural significance because of its unique combination of Colonial Revival and Classical Revival style features. Features such as: the rectangular plan and symmetrical front façade; the hipped roof with hipped and gabled dormers; the wide, enclosed eaves with brackets; the full-width front porch and bellcast roof; the centered front door with sidelights; the rectangular, double hung sash windows; and the use of bay windows are Colonial Revival features. The second floor trio window composition with cast plaster ornament on the front façade; the paired columns at the porch, and the hip roof front dormer with a balcony are this building’s Classical Revival features. The large building site has been preserved in its original size and no additional buildings have been constructed. The scale and level of architectural integrity and its prominent location at the northwest entrance to French Park give this building additional unique architectural significance. OWNER AND ADDRESS: Ms. Debra Mc Ewen 201 E. Washington Avenue Santa Ana, CA 92701-3756 Page 4 of 4 LL\HRC|Categorizations\keech-klatt 12-07-00 RECORDED BY: (Name, affiliation, and address) Lucy Linnaus City of Santa Ana, Planning Division 20 Civic Center Plaza M-20, Santa Ana, CA 92702 DATE RECORDED: November 9, 2000 SURVEY TYPE: (Intensive, reconnaissance, or other) Reconnaissance REPORT CITATION: (Cite survey report and other sources) National Register of Historic Places Application for French Park Historic District Santa Ana Historic Register Application Form REFERENCES: (List documents, date of publication, and page numbers. May also include oral interviews.) National Register Bulletin 16A A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia & Lee McAlester City of Santa Ana Building Division Records City of Santa Ana Library , History Room EVALUATOR: DATE OF EVALUATION: 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 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) 1D: Contributor to a listed district.