HomeMy WebLinkAbout020319_Template-BealsHouse_1016NFrench.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) Beals House
P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA 1725 Date:
*c. Address 1016 North French Street City Santa Ana Zip 92701
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 398 Block: 027 Lot: 18
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
This two-story English Revival house features steeply pitched, multiple front gables and a clipped, side gabled roof. Finished
in stucco, the building is divided into three differently treated bays on its principal (east) elevation. Narrow, arched vents
enliven the gable peaks. A small, segmentally-arched wall dormer with squared light is sandwiched between the front gables,
flanked by triple windows in the side bays on the second story. The north front gable slopes down to form the roof of the
centered, recessed porch. An open Tudor arch marks the porch entry. South of the entrance, a fixed tripartite window
overlooking a patio features a large, center pane with a six-light transom. A blind arch, also Tudor in shape, spans the
grouping. The patio is enclosed by a low stucco wall with red brick coping. A pair of aluminum windows north of the entry
has replaced the original windows. On the south elevation, an end-wall chimney, rebuilt in 1933 and finished in stucco,
bisects the clipped gable roof. The original garage located on the southwest corner of the property was converted into a
guest house.
*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
February 2002
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: historic
1925/Source: City of Santa Ana
building permit
*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:
March 19, 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 3 *NRHP Status Code_1D_________________________
*Resource Name or #: Beals House
B1. Historic Name: Beals House
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Single-family Residence B4. Present Use: Multiple-family Residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Revivals/ Other: English Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations):
January 10, 1925. Residence and garage.
May 1, 1933. Rebuild fireplace.
December 18, 1939. Reroof.
January 17, 1974. Modernize bath and interior alterations at rear guest house.
November 5, 1992. Repair door jamb – handrail, water damage repair at shower and ceiling.
*B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:__________ Original Location:_____________________________
*B8. Related Features:
Original, single car garage converted into guest house on northwest corner of property.
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: C
(Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity)
The Beals House is architecturally noteworthy as a typical example of a two-story, English Revival dwelling of the 1920s.
According to the building permit, N. A. Beals constructed the house in 1925 for an estimated cost of $7,000. Nathan and
Alice Beals, the original owners, moved from an earlier house they built at 821 North Garfield, a few blocks away. They
occupied this house until at least 1945. For several years Nathan Beals was the Son in Beals and Son, Grocers, in
downtown Santa Ana. Then, for ten years, he was assistant cashier for the First National Bank. In the 1940s, Beals was
Secretary of the Irvine Walnut Growers Association. Later in life, he managed the Fallen Leaf Lodge in Lake Tahoe, dying in
1968 at the age of 92 (Marsh, 1998).
(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: March 19, 2002
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
Beals House
1016 North French 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) Beals House
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date March 19, 2002 ⌧ 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. 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 Beals 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 also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion
1, as a representative example of the English Revival style popular in the 1920s. Additionally, the house has been
categorized as “Contributive” because it is a “good example” of English Revival architecture, “has not been substantially
altered,” and contributes to the overall character of French Park through its style and type. The house retains characteristic
elements of 1920s English Revival style in its asymmetrical, steeply-pitched, multi-gabled roof with uneven rakes, smooth
stucco sheathing, and Tudor-arched porch entry and window. Although several windows have been replaced with jalousies
or aluminum frames, the house retains sufficient integrity to convey a sense of time and place. Character-defining exterior
features of the Beals House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to: materials and finishes; roof
configuration and detailing; porch; and arched windows and porch entry.
*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.