HomeMy WebLinkAbout051019_Template-RamirezHouse1906W2nd.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) Ramirez House
P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA1667 Date:
*c. Address 1906 West Second Street City Santa Ana Zip 92703
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 007-162-05
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
Although altered, this one-story, Italianate-influenced cottage retains several features that reveal its early origins. A truncated
hip roof crowns the building, which is clad in shiplap siding and trimmed with endboards. Ornate sawn brackets, arranged in
pairs, punctuate the enclosed soffits. Centered on the façade, an attached porch is divided into three bays by slender,
chamfered columns that rise to additional brackets and a scalloped frieze. The entry is located in the central bay. Windows
on the façade, two pairs east of the entry and one pair west, have been replaced with aluminum sliders, but the tall and
narrow, one-over-one, double-hung sash on the side elevations are original. Other alterations include a wrought iron porch
railing, security bars over the openings, an incompatible rear addition, and enclosure of an opening on the west elevation.
Bordered by a vine-clad, chain-link fence, the property is in fair condition.
*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 west elevations
October 2005
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: historic
Circa 1898
*P7. Owner and Address:
Catalina Ramirez
1906 West Second Street
Santa Ana, CA 92703
*P8. Recorded by:
Leslie J. Heumann
SAIC
35 S. Raymond Ave. # 204
Pasadena, CA 91105
*P9. Date Recorded:
October 19, 2005
*P10. Survey Type:
Intensive Survey Update
*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 *CHR Status Code_5S1__________________________
*Resource Name or #: Ramirez House
B1. Historic Name: Ramirez House
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Single-family Residence B4. Present Use: Single-family residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Italianate (Late Victorian)
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations): Constructed circa 1898
February 3, 1930. Relocate.
February 26, 1930. Double garage.
September 15, 1958. Garage, laundry, and storage room.
June 12, 1970. Addition to residence (guest room and ¾ bath).
October 4, 1979. Repair fire damage.
*B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:_1930_____ Original Location:__Unknown____________________
*B8. Related Features:
None.
B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown
*B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area Santa Ana
Period of Significance: circa 1888-1955 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 Ramirez House is architecturally significant as a vernacular example of the Italianate style, a style which has only a limited
representation in the historic built environment of Santa Ana. Its exact date of construction is unknown and is estimated,
based on appearance, to pre-date the turn of the twentieth century. The earliest building permit recorded for this address was
issued in 1930, when the building was apparently relocated. The first listing for this address in the city directories occurs in
1931, when Juan M. Ramirez and his wife, Cecilia, were the householders. Mr. Ramirez was a tailor.
(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: October 19, 2005
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
1906 West Second 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) Ramirez House
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann *Date October 19, 2005 ⌧ Continuation 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 Ramirez House is located in Artesia Pilar, a neighborhood located west of the town center and bounded by Seventeenth
and First Streets on the north and south and by Bristol and Fairview Streets on the east and west. In 1912, this area was at
the western limits of the incorporated city and was mostly divided into small to large agricultural plots. Subdivided areas were
centered north and south of Fifth Street, between Bristol Street and Artesia (now Raitt) Street. Traversing the neighborhood,
the Pacific Electric Railroad tracks were laid along Fourth Street, the same route that Santa Ana Boulevard follows today.
The 1925 Sanborn maps were limited to the same subdivided areas around Fifth Street, suggesting that development of
homes continued to be confined to a handful of tracts. This assumption is borne out by the styles of the homes that survive in
the area today, a mix of Colonial Revival cottages and small Craftsman bungalows. Although some construction took place
during the 1920s and 1930s and resulted in houses displaying the revival styles typical of that era, the majority of the
northern and western portions of the neighborhood were improved in the post World War II years with small California Ranch
style homes.
Artesia Pilar is also historically notable as a “colonia,” one of the approximately forty-five neighborhoods in Orange County in
which Mexican-Americans lived, were able to purchase property, attended school, and worshipped. Initially settled by Anglo-
Americans, the southern half of the neighborhood had a sprinkling of residents with Spanish surnames by 1920. Artesia
School, located at 705 North Artesia Street (and later known as Fremont School), was specifically identified in the city
directory as “Mexican.” West of Artesia, between First and Eighth, the neighborhood was almost entirely Mexican-American
by 1930. This trend continued, spreading somewhat eastwards, over the next decades. In 1949, Our Lady of Pilar Catholic
Church opened in a reclaimed Army barracks on West Sixth Street. A new building was constructed in 1961 and dedicated in
1964; it became the official parish church of Mexican-Americans in Santa Ana in 1969.
The Ramirez House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion 3 for its
exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the Italianate style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the
house include its bracketed and hipped roof, shiplap siding, sawn wood details, and double-hung sash windows.
Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Contributive” because it “contributes to the overall character and history” of
Santa Ana, and, as a relatively intact and rare example of the Italianate style, “is a good example of period architecture.”
Character-defining exterior features of the Ramirez House that should be preserved, include, but may not be limited to:
materials and finishes (siding); roof configuration and detailing; massing; original windows and doors where extant; porch;
and architectural details such as the endboards, brackets, porch trim, and porch posts. With restoration, this house could be
categorized as “Key.”
*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.
Orange County Plat Maps, 1912.
Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1905-1950.
Personal Communication, Yolanda Morelos Alvarez, Chairman of the Orange County Mexican American Historical Society,
November 2, 2005.