HomeMy WebLinkAbout020419_Template-SanbornApartments2_906NLacy.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) Sanborn Apartments 2
P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA 1725 Date:
*c. Address 906-908 North Lacy Street City Santa Ana Zip 92701
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 398-031-07 Santa Ana East Lot:17 Block: 84 ELY 75 Ft Lots: 19/20
All in Block: 84
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
This is one of three similar two-story apartment buildings in the Spanish Colonial Revival style located on on adjacent lots
and separated by a common driveway. (The other two buildings are located at 902-904 North Lacy Street and 419-419½
Vance Street). Flat roofed, the building is accented by red clay tile pent roofs on the east and north elevations. Original
textured stucco finishes the building. Square piers with rounded clay pipe vents mark the corners, the one on the southeast
battered in the manner of a buttress. A tiled hood on carved brackets shelters the first floor main entrance in the central bay
of the three-bay facade. Fixed windows flanked by three-light casement windows occupy the side bays on both floors. A
decorative grid of six squares incised into the stucco is centered between the two upper openings. Most windows on the
remaining elevations are paired, three-light casement windows. A solid stucco railing borders the L-shaped stairway wrapping
the northeast corner of the building. Set over a dramatic quarter arch opening, the staircase leads to an upper entry shaded
by a red clay tile shed roof. The first floor entrance door with single light is original. The apartment building is in good
condition. An original four-car garage, shared by all three buildings, sits directly west of 906-908 North Lacy Street. It has
four wooden doors, a flat roof, and the same textured stucco finish as the apartment buildings.
*P3b. Resource Attributes: (list attributes and codes) HP3. Multiple-family Property
*P4. Resources Present: Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other
P5b. Photo: (view and date)
North and east elevations
March 2002
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: historic
1931/ Source: City of Santa Ana
building permit.
*P7. Owner and Address:
Vinh Nguyen
16161 Mount Baden Powell Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
*P8. Recorded by:
Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi
SAIC
35 S. Raymond Ave. # 204
Pasadena, CA 91105
*P9. Date Recorded:
April 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 #: Sanborn Apartments 2
B1. Historic Name: Sanborn Apartments
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Multiple-family Residence B4. Present Use: Multiple-family Residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations):
September 27, 1926. Garage for Etta Sweet.
June 18, 1931. Demolish by Mrs. Laura Sanborn.
June 27, 1931. Duplex.
January 7, 1993. Repair garage frames and doors
January 7, 1993. Remove three exterior stairs and balconies.
February 10, 1993. Repair leaking garage roof (not a complete re-roof) to five car garage.
September 22, 1994. Repair exterior stairs and weatherproof exterior walls, repair and bring to code installation of drywall for
shower installation in bathrooms in both units.
*B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:__________ Original Location:_____________________________
*B8. Related Features:
Four car garage.
B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown
*B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area Santa Ana
Period of Significance: circa 1880-1946 Property Type: Multiple-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 Sanborn Apartments are a representative example of Spanish Colonial Revival styled multi-family building from the 1920s
and 1930s. They are also notable as contributors to a cluster of Spanish styled apartments located on the eastern edge of the
French Park Historic District. Constructed in 1931 as a duplex, the building was originally owned by Laura Sanborn and cost
(according to the building permit) $4,000 to build. According to previous research, initial tenants were John and Amos
Johnson at the 906 address, and C. Harold and Hariette Dale in 908 North Lacy Street. Mr. Dale was a partner in Dale
Brothers Insurance Company located at 301 North Main Street (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: April 19, 2002
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
Sanborn Apartments 2
906-908 North Lac 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) Sanborn Apartments 2
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date April 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 Sanborn Apartments were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 as contributors to the French Park
Historic District. They are therefore listed in the California Register of Historical Resources and are located within the
boundaries of the locally designated historic district. They also qualify for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical
Property under Criterion 1 as representative examples of the Spanish Colonial Revival style as applied to multiple-family
residences in the 1930s. Additionally, the apartments have been categorized as “Key” for their “distinctive architectural
quality”, and because they are important to the overall character and history of this section of French Park as elements of a
cluster of similar Spanish Colonial Revival apartment buildings. Characteristic Spanish Colonial Revival elements include the
use of stucco and tile and the incorporation of elements such as arches, tiled steps, carved wood, and pierced stucco grilles
Character-defining exterior features of the Sanborn Apartments that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to:
materials (wood posts) and finishes (stucco); roof configuration and detailing; windows; and architectural details such as
buttresses, decorative squares, and carved brackets.
*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.
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) Sanborn Apartments 2
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date April 19, 2002 ⌧ Continuation Update
DPR 523L
(Garage at rear, northwest corner of property)