HomeMy WebLinkAbout020220_Template-GleasonCardenHouse_918NFrench.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) Gleason-Carden House
P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA 1725 Date:
*c. Address 918 North French Street City Santa Ana Zip 92701
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 398-013-09 Block: B Lot: POR 4
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
This square, symmetrical, Colonial Revival house is two and a half stories with a steeply pitched hipped roof. A bold front
gable crowns the center of the main (east) elevation. The gable features fish-scale shingles, intricately carved and detailed
bargeboards, and a trio of connected square apertures sharing a bracketed sill and molded lintel. Carved brackets accent
the frieze. The remainder of the house is sheathed in narrow clapboard. Below the center gable, an ornamental balcony
surmounts the wide front porch. Intricately carved and turned balusters decorate the balcony, which fronts a window with a
cross-patterned transom and a molded lintel. More simply framed double-hung sash are located to either side. The attached
front porch features four Tuscan columns supporting a pent roof. Carved balusters mirror the columns in design. Identical
windows with transoms and molded hoods.
(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
1903/ 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 #: Gleason-Carden House
B1. Historic Name: Gleason-Carden 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 in 1903.
November 1922. Garage. June 22, 1948. Convert room into kitchen.
May 10, 1930. Reroof. May 7, 1988. Modify kitchen wall, alter bathroom.
September 10, 1941. Alterations to residence. February 22, 1991. Reroof garage and repair shower.
September 24, 1945. Reroof. October 4, 1993. Remodel 3 bathrooms, repair drywall.
*B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:__________ Original Location:_____________________________
*B8. Related Features:
Original carriage house on west side 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 Gleason-Carden House is architecturally distinguished as an intact and characteristic example of the Colonial Revival
style. It is also important as a contributor to the French Park Historic District. According to previous research, the house was
constructed in 1903 for Lester Gleason. Gleason was a partner in the Gleason Furniture Store and several other businesses
and also owned a lemon and orange grove on the site of today’s El Modena High School athletic field. Musically inclined,
Gleason played in the Santa Ana band and sang in the Methodist choir. Second resident Lester Lincoln Carden was a
partner with Jabe Hill in Hill and Carden’s clothing store. Mr. Carden held memberships in the Santa Ana Lodge No. 794,
BPOE, the Santa Ana Lions, the Christian Science Church, and was a charter member of the Santa Ana Country Club. Other
owners include physician/surgeon Dr. Albert Zaiser and wife Grace in the 1920s, John and Dora Engel, local ranchers, in the
1930s, and Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Blades in the early 1940s.
(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.)
Gleason-Carden Huuse
918 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) Gleason-Carden House
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date February 20, 2002 ⌧ Continuation Update
DPR 523L
*P3a. Description (continued):
flank the wide entrance. Engaged columns topped by notched brackets and a denticulated cornice top the opening. The
original varnished single panel door is flanked by multi-paned, beveled glass sidelights. Wooden steps lead to the entrance.
Closed side gables with single attic vents are on south and north elevations. The original carriage house is located in the
rear of the property. 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 Gleason-Carden House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 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 qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property
under Criterion 1, as a representive example of the distinguishing characteristics of the Classic Box variant of the Colonial
Revival style. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Landmark” for its unique architectural significance.
Substantially original from 1903, the house incorporates the massing, window treatments, symmetry, porch and entrance
treatment characteristic of larger Colonial Revival homes. All original and restored exterior features of the Gleason-Carden
House are character-defining and should be preserved. These features include, but may not be limited to: materials and
finishes; roof configuration and treatment; massing; porches and balconies; symmetrical composition; bays and projections;
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.
Office of Historic Preservation. “Instructions for Recording Historical Resources.” Sacramento: March 1995.
Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
(See Continuation Sheet 4 of 4.)
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) Gleason-Carden House
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date February 20, 2002 ⌧ Continuation Update
DPR 523L
*B12. References (continued):
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.