HomeMy WebLinkAbout020917_ExecutiveSummary-DinsmoreHouse_222SCypress.pdfEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
DINSMORE HOUSE
222 South Cypress Avenue
Santa Ana, CA 92701
NAME Dinsmore House REF. NO.
ADDRESS 222 South Cypress Avenue
CITY Santa Ana ZIP 92701 ORANGE COUNTY
YEAR BUILT Circa 1899 LOCAL REGISTER CATEGORY: Key
HISTORIC DISTRICT N/A NEIGHBORHOOD Eastside
NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION C NATIONAL REGISTER STATUS CODE 5S1
Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted
Prehistoric Historic Both
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Queen Anne (Late Victorian), Greek Revival
The Queen Anne (Late Victorian) (also known as the Queen Anne Revival) dominated residential architectural design during the last
twenty years of the nineteenth century in the West, and was nearly as influential on early commercial buildings. Identifying features
include the front-facing gable roof; ornate decoration of wood or metal along the eave and in the gable end; avoidance of flat wall
surfaces through the use of applied ornamentation of wood or metal; and classical columns or pilasters. Multi-storied residential and
commercial examples often incorporated bay windows, sometimes topped with towers. The style borrowed heavily from late
Medieval models, with the addition of other regional interpretations. Some of the most well-developed examples can be found in
California and in the southern states (McAlester, 263-268).
Although classical architecture as a whole provided precedents for most American designers in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, a specifically Greek Revival was initiated in 1818 with a competition to design the Second Bank of the United States in
Philadelphia (Whiffen, 40). Over the next approximately fifty years, the style was utilized for a variety of building types, including
residences. It can be recognized by a symmetrical arrangement of building elements; the presence of Greek orders; rectangular
building plans; gabled or hipped roofs of low pitch; and, often, an unmistakable reference to Greek temple design through
incorporation of colonnades and front-gabled facades. In the Greek Revival, architectural elaboration is focused on cornice lines,
doorways, columns and piers, and windows (McAlester, 178-184). The Greek Revival is most commonly found in the eastern half of
the continental United States; examples in the West are more rare and usually date to the second half of the nineteenth century.
SUMMARY/CONCLUSION:
The Dinsmore House appears to qualify for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion 1 as an intact and
representative example of a farmhouse influenced by the Queen Anne (Late Victorian) and Greek Revival styles of the late nineteenth
century. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Key” for its “distinctive architectural style and quality” as a representative
example of a farmhouse with Queen Anne (Late Victorian) and Greek Revival characteristics (Municipal Code, Section 30-2.2).
EXPLANATION OF CODES:
• National Register Criteria for Evaluation: (From Appendix 7 of Instructions for Recording Historical Resources, Office of
Historic Preservation)
C: that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the
work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity
whose components may lack individual distinction.
• National Register Status Code: (From Appendix 2 of Instructions for Recording Historical Resources, Office of Historic
Preservation)
5S1: Not eligible for the National Register but of local interest because the resource is eligible for listing under an
existing local ordinance.