HomeMy WebLinkAbout070125_Template-Dixon_2415NPoinsettia.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) Dixon House P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: oNot for Publication nUnrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA1725 Date:
*c. Address 2415 N. Poinsettia Street City Santa Ana Zip 92706
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 003-081-15
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
This one-story stucco-clad house displays signature features of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Rectangular in plan , the
house is primarily side-gabled, framed by two unevenly sized front gables that top wings projecting from either end of the
façade. Clay tiles cover the gables and provide a parapet coping for the rear, flat-roofed section of the building. Between the
two wings, a central patio is enclosed by a low stucco wall whose design incorporates Mission Revival inspired arches.
Curvilinear buttresses accent the corners of the wings. The entry is located within a south -facing archway, opening onto the
patio from the north wing. Canvas awnings shade the patio south of the entry and the large, arched windows centered o n the
facades of each projecting wing. Windows are primarily multi -paned casements in type. Attic vents formed of clusters of clay
pipes project from the exterior walls above the windows. Additional awnings top windows on the south elevation; a stuccoed
chimney rises up the north elevation. Approached by a cement pathway that bisects a front lawn punctuated by two mature
trees, the house is substantially unaltered and is in good condition. The property also includes a rear, one-story, stucco-
covered ga rage whose flat roof features a tile-edged parapet.
*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)
West elevation
January 2007
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: nhistoric
1927/City of Santa Ana Building
Permits
*P7. Owner and Address:
William B. Prescott
2415 N. Poinsettia Street
Santa Ana, CA 92706
*P8. Recorded by:
L. Heumann and D. Howell -Ardila
Sapphos Environmental, Inc.
133 Martin Alley
Pasadena, California 91105
*P9. Date Recorded:
January 25, 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 #: Dixon House B1. Historic Name: Dixon House
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Single -family Residence B4. Present Use: Single-family Residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations): Constructed in 1927
April 23, 1927. Residence and garage.
October 25, 1927. Shed.
December 10, 1948 . Reroof.
June 15, 1949. Termite work and August 6, 1949. Repair termite damage to storage.
October 19, 1983. Reroof with composition shingles.
May 19, 1995. Partial reroof single family dwelling only—remove existing cap sheet and apply new cap sheet to flat area only
*B7. Moved? n No o Yes o Unknown Date:______ Original Location:_ ____________________
*B8. Related Features:
Garage.
B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Honer, Herzig, and Farney
*B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area Santa Ana
Period of Significance: circa 1 901-1954 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 sc ope. Also address integrity)
The Dixon House is architecturally notable as an intact and representative example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style and
is of historic interest as one of several homes in the Park Santiago neighborhood developed by the team of (Allison) Honer,
(Norman) Herzig and (first name unknown) Farney. The house and garage, valued at $8,000 on the building permit, were built
in 1927 , at which time only four residences had been constructed on the block . When the house first appeare d in the city
directories in 1928, the residents were Frederick A. Dixon, vice-president and manager of the Standard American Glass
Company, and his wife, Mary. The Dixons were succeeded in 1931 by Harry E. Welsh, a salesman for the Edison Company,
and his wife, Eleanor, and in 1932 by Charles L. Davis, a real estate salesman, and his wife, Ocia. Beginning in 1934 and
continuing until at least 1947, the house was the address of Abe Swindle, a clerk for the L. G. Holman company, and his wife,
Virginia.
(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: January 2 5, 2006
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
2415 N. Poinsettia Street
003-081-15
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) Dixon House
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howell -Ardila *Date July 27, 2006 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 Dixon House is located in the Park Santiago neighborhood, near the present northern city lim its 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 ap proximately 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 duri ng
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 Dixon House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion 3 for its exemplification
of the distinguishing characteristics of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the
house include its materials of tile and stucco, casement windows, use of arches, and incorporation of a patio into the plan.
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 Spanish Colonial Revival style “is a good example of period architecture.” Character-
defining exterior features of the Dixon House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to , materials and
finishes (stucco, tile); roof configuration and detailing; original windows and doors where extant; chimney; patio, architectural
details such as the buttresses and attic vents; and garage .
*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 1 995.
Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780 . Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
Orange County Plat Maps, 1912.
Historic Maps, Santa Ana History Room, 1923, 1932, 1955.
Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1926-196 1.