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HomeMy WebLinkAbout020210_Template-SmithFrankHouse_916NFrench.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) Smith-Frank House P1. Other Identifier: *P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County *b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA 1725 Date: *c. Address 916 North French Street City Santa Ana Zip 92701 *e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number Block: Lot: *P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.) This is a fine example of a Colonial Revival styled house with Prairie Style elements. Built in 1902, the house is two-stories in height with a steeply pitched hipped roof and massing indicative of the American Foursquare variant of the Prairie Style. Identical hipped dormers are centered on all four sides. Exposed rafter tails extend beneath broad eaves on the roof and dormers. Narrow clapboard sheathes the house. A wide belt course divides the stories. Windows are primarily casements with varying numbers of lights. Many second story windows are decorated with non-functioning shutters. Fenestration defines three nearly identical bays on the second story of the façade (east elevation). In the center, a balconet is supported by four carved brackets, enclosed by a wrought iron railing, and accessed by multi-paned French doors. A recessed porch spans the first floor of the east elevation. Clapboard-sided columns atop closed railings define a four bay porch arcade. A trio of multi-pane, double-casement windows are located to the south of the entrance while a pair of (See Continuation Sheet 3 of 4.) *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) South and east elevations July 2001 *P6. Date Constructed/Age and Sources: historic 1902/Source: National Register nomination *P7. Owner and Address: *P8. Recorded by: Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi SAIC 35 S. Raymond Ave. # 204 Pasadena, CA 91105 *P9. Date Recorded: February 20, 2002 *P10. Survey Type: Intensive Survey Update *P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter “none”) Les, Kathleen. “Historic Resources Inventory French Park District,” September 1979. Marsh, Diann. “French Park Historic District.” National Register Nomination Form, February 1998. *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_1D__________________________ *Resource Name or #: Smith-Frank House B1. Historic Name: Smith-Frank House B2. Common Name: Same B3. Original Use: Single-family Residence B4. Present Use: Single-family Residence *B5. Architectural Style: Colonial Revival, Prairie Style *B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations): Constructed in 1902. October 19, 1931. Alterations. May 12, 1933. Rebuild chimney. *B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:__________ Original Location:_____________________________ *B8. Related Features: Matching carriage house on northwest corner of property and low concrete curb at sidewalk. B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown *B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area Santa Ana Period of Significance: circa 1880-1946 Property Type: Single-family Residence Applicable Criteria: B, C (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity) The Smith-Frank House is historically significant as the home of a prominent Santa Ana citizen, and is architecturally distinguished as a remarkably intact and characteristic example of the Colonial Revival style with Prairie School elements. It is also important as a contributor to the French Park Historic District. George Smith was a partner in Smith-Tuthill Mortuary, which at one time was the oldest continuously operating funeral home in Santa Ana. For many years the mortuary occupied the impressive Crane House in downtown Santa Ana at 518 North Broadway. During part of the 1910s, Mr. Smith was Orange County Coroner. He was also a director of the First National Bank, the Broadway Improvement Company, and the Orange County Title Company (Les, 1979). The Frank family acquired the house in 1959 and have maintained the home in its original exterior and interior condition. Ms. Donna Frantz, second generation of the Frank family, and a former covergirl who worked for RKO and Howard Hughes, currently (2002) resides in the home. (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: February 20, 2002 DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information Sketch Map (This space reserved for official comments.) Smith-Frank House 916 North French Street 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) Smith-Frank House *Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date February 20, 2002 ⌧ Continuation Update DPR 523L *P3a. Description (continued): identical windows are to the north. The entrance features a highly varnished, solid, single-panel door with multi-pane beveled sidelights. The door, and wooden porch steps flanked by pedestals and iron railings, are offset one bay to the north of center. The south elevation is noteworthy for its complexity. A squared bay with multi-paned casement windows occupies the upper southwest corner while a curved bay with pent roof and narrow casement windows is below, to the southeast. The north elevation features a squared bay with pent roof on the first floor at the northwest corner. A matching carriage house still sits on the property’s northwest corner. A low concrete retaining wall borders the driveway and sidewalk. The house is in excellent condition. *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. In 1877, Spurgeon, along with James McFadden and James Fruit, formed the Western Development Company with the intention of bringing the Southern Pacific Railroad from its then terminus in Anaheim into Santa Ana. Thinking to capitalize on commercial growth around the railroad, the partners purchased 160 acres adjacent to the eastern city boundary at French Street. Although they were successful in luring the Southern Pacific to a new depot on Fruit Street in Santa Ana in 1878, the expected commercial development of “Santa Ana East” never materialized. Early growth and development of the town continued to be centered further west around Fourth and Main Streets, with the result that the legacy of Santa Ana East is an angled street plan whose intersection with the original city is marked by a small, triangular parcel, developed in the 1890s as Flatiron Park, now known as French Park. Santa Ana continued to grow, stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1886. Following its incorporation as a city in 1886, Santa Ana was recognized as one of the leading communities in the area in 1889 when it became the seat of the newly created County of Orange. Beginning in the 1880s and continuing well into the twentieth century, the area around the park began to be developed with many of the finest homes in Santa Ana. Examples of Victorian era, turn of the century, and Craftsman homes were built along the tree-lined streets. By the 1920s, most streets in the neighborhood were fully developed, although a few revival styled single family homes and duplexes were built during the 1920s, and a handful of apartments constructed in the 1930s. From the nineteenth century onwards, residents were a “Who’s Who” of early Santa Ana, and included bankers, attorneys, doctors, businessmen, ranchers, teachers and others active in the civic and social life of the city. Once known as the “Nob Hill” of Santa Ana, French Park declined in the 1940s and 1950s as some homes were converted into rooming houses and others were allowed to deteriorate. In the 1960s and 1970s some houses were demolished and the properties redeveloped with multi-family housing. However, a grass roots preservation effort begun in the late 1970s led to the establishment of a local historic district in 1984 and the listing of the neighborhood in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The Smith-Frank House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 (as the George Smith House) as a contributor to the French Park Historic District. It is therefore listed in the California Register of Historical Resources and is located within the boundaries of the locally designated historic district. It also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion 1, as a representive example of the distinguishing characteristics of the vernacular Colonial Revival style with Prairie Style elements from the early twentieth century, and under Criterion 4b, for its associations with George Smith and the Frank family, prominent local citizens. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Landmark” for its unique architectural significance. Possessed of substantial integrity from 1902, the house displays elements of the Colonial Revival style such as the near symmetry of the façade and the characteristic Colonial Revival window surrounds, and combines them with massing derived from the American Foursquare genre of the Prairie Style and roof detailing that reflects Craftsman influences. All original and restored exterior features of the Smith-Frank House are character-defining and should be preserved. These features include, but may not be limited to: materials and finishes; roof configuration and detailing; massing and composition; porch; bays and projections; porches; doors and windows (including surrounds); architectural detailing (woodwork); and low concrete curb and step at the sidewalk. *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. 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) Smith-Frank House *Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date February 20, 2002 ⌧ Continuation Update DPR 523L *B12. References (continued): Office of Historic Preservation. “Instructions for Recording Historical Resources.” Sacramento: March 1995. Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969. Armor, Samuel. History of Orange County. 1921. Guinn, James Miller. Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California. 1902. Historical Landmarks Inventory Form, November 18, 1976 (Santa Ana History Room). “Preserving the Past in French Park.” The Register, February 12, 1983.