HomeMy WebLinkAbout020620_Template-DawesPerkinsHouse_808NSpurgeon.pdf State 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) Dawes Perkins House
P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Orange County
*b. USGS 7.5’ Quad TCA 1725 Date:
*c. Address 808-810½ North Spurgeon Street City Santa Ana Zip 92701
*e. Other Locational Data: Assessor’s Parcel Number 398-016-06 Price & Stella Fruits Add Lot: 8 Block: C(and N1/2
Lot: 9 Block C
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
When built in 1904, this two-story Colonial Revival building was a single-family residence. It was later converted into a
fourplex (previous research indicates in 1923) with numerous alterations to the façade including the addition of a projecting,
pyramidal hipped porch roof supported by four, full-height wood posts. A medium pitched, hipped roof with carved rafter tails
caps the building. The second story is clad in wood shingles, while narrow clapboard sheathes the first floor. A plain belt
course separates the two floors. Most windows are wood-framed, one-over-one, double-hung sash with Colonial Revival
surrounds. A pair of centered, arched windows on the second story façade is flanked by a “V”-shaped bay on the south and
a trio of double-hung windows to the north. On the north end of the first floor, a cant bay is crowned by an unadorned
entablature. The bay’s fixed center window is topped by a diamond-patterned transom, a motif repeated in a window at the
south end of the porch. In between, four non-original apartment entrances with fifteen-light wooden doors are fronted by
metal security doors. Non-original wrought iron railings enclose the red brick porch floor and steps while a low art stone curb
with a red brick cap forms a planter between porch posts and may be a remnant of the original porch . A Colonial-style lamp
(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 3.)
*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)
East elevation, May 2002
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: historic
1904/ 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:
June 21, 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 #: Dawes Perkins House
B1. Historic Name: Dawes Perkins House
B2. Common Name: Same
B3. Original Use: Single-family Residence B4. Present Use: Multiple-family Residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Colonial Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations): Constructed in 1904.
August 5,1926. Reroof. January 20, 1987. Reroof garage.
April 14, 1933. Repair fireplace chimney. September 13, 1994. Frame in wall at living room, remove exterior
October 14, 1933. Reroof. wall and return to original building configuration.
March 2, 1951. Alteration to front of building. December 19, 1995. Repair lath and plaster.
January 20, 1987. Reroof.
*B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:__________ Original Location:_____________________________
*B8. Related Features:
None.
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 Dawes Perkins House is noteworthy as an example of a Colonial Revival house from the early years of the twentieth
century, although it subsequently was converted into a fourplex in the 1920s. It is also important as a contributor to the
French Park Historic District. According to previous research, the house was built for Horatio Dawes in 1904. Mr. Dawes
arrived in Santa Ana in 1891 and worked for the Huff Dry Goods Company before co-founding the Dawes and Hoffman
clothing store in 1899. He was also financially involved with the Stewart-Dawes Shoe Company of Los Angeles, was a
director of the First National Bank of Santa Ana, served on the Santa Ana School Board, was a member of the B.P.O.E., and
belonged to the Independent Order of Foresters. Wyllys and Fannie Perkins were the next owners in 1917. They owned 160
acres of improved land in the El Modena district, east of Orange. Mr. Perkins was an organizer of the Villa Park Orchards
Association. Fannie Perkins died in 1919 and Wyllys converted the house into a fourplex in 1923. He and his unmarried
daughter Elizabeth took apartment 808 on the southeast corner. Elizabeth inherited the house and several ranches upon her
father’s death in the late 1930s (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: June 21, 2002
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
Sketch Map
(This space reserved for official comments.)
Dawes Perkins House
808-810½ North Spurgeon 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) Dawes Perkins House (1)
*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, Peter C. Moruzzi, SAIC *Date June 21, 2002 ⌧ Continuation Update
DPR 523L
*P3a. Description (continued):
hangs above the center steps. A brick end-wall chimney pierces the eaves on the east end of the south elevation. The
property is bordered by a low concrete retaining wall at the sidewalk and a concrete driveway on the south. The one-story,
front-gabled garage at the end of the driveway was built after the house was constructed in a utilitarian style. Although the
fourplex appears to be in good condition, the alterations noted above have somewhat compromised the building’s integrity.
*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 Dawes Perkins 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 structure that exemplifies Colonial Revival architectural style and design features. Additionally, although the
architecture of the house has been somewhat compromised, the property has been categorized as “Key” for its historical
association with the Dawes and Perkins families who were actively involved in the economic, social, and civic life of the
community. Characteristic Colonial Revival features include the hipped roof, window surrounds, and box-like massing.
Character-defining exterior features of the Dawes Perkins House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to:
materials (wood) and finishes (siding); roof configuration; massing; windows and window surrounds; and architectural details
such as the carved rafter tails and belt course.
*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.