2 - 321 E SANTA CLARA - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

State of California  The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________ CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________ Page 3_ of 4_ Resource Name: West & West House *Recorded by Ricardo Soto *Date March 26, 2018  Continuation  Update DPR 523L *B10. Significance (continued): Z.B. West Jr. was the first owner and recorded occupant of the West & West House, according to city directories. Z.B. West Jr. graduated from Santa Ana High School and continued his studies at Stanford, where he graduated with honors in the class of 1917. After completing honorable and active service with the American expeditionary forces in France during WWI, West Jr. spent sixteen weeks at a French university. He then returned to California and was admitted to the bar in 1921, afterwhich he established his law practice in Santa Ana. Z.B. West Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps and served as both Santa Ana City Attorney from 1923 to 1927 and District Attorney from 1927 to 1930. According to city directories, Franklin G. West resided at the residence after his brother, from 1932 until 1962. Franklin G. West also followed in his father's footseps, serving as a Superior Court judge. Franklin G. West passed the bar in 1923 after gradutating from Stanford, and practiced law with is brother Z.B. West Jr. in Santa Ana. Franklin G. West then went on to become Superior Court judge in 1938, and served in that capacity from 1939 unitl 1965. Franklin passed away in 1976. Franklin was held in such high esteem by the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA), that their highest honor bestowed is a lifetime achievement award, which was established in memory of Judge Franklin G. West. According to the OCBA, Judge Franklin G. West epitomized the best of the legal profession, both as an attorney and a judge. The award, which recognizes an outstanding attorney or judge whose lifetime achievements have advanced justice and the law, is presented annually. Outside of the courthouse, a third brother, Eddie West, made his name as the longtime sports editor of the Santa Ana Register. Eddie West Field at the Santa Ana Stadium is named in his honor. 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. The civic and commercial core of the community was centered around the intersection of Main and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection as the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods developing to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with cultivated fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses. The West & West House is located in the Santiago Park neighborhood. The neighborhood is bounded by Santiago Creek and Park on the north, East Seventeenth Street on the south, North Lincoln Avenue on the east, North Main Street on the west, and the I-5 freeway on the southwest. In large part these boundaries reflect the transportation lines that were constructed towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Pacific Electric interurban railroad ran up Main Street; the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe tracks followed Lincoln; and the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way mirrored the freeway route. This area remained primarily agricultural well into the 1920s. As of 1905, the city directories listed around twenty households on East Santa Clara, Twentieth Street, “C Street” (now North Santiago Street), North Bush Street and North Main Avenue, the only streets in the area at the time. The vast majority of the residents were ranchers. By 1911, the number of households had increased to about thirty, and Edgewood Road and Valencia Street had been partially laid out, but most residents continued to list “rancher” or “fruit grower” as their occupation in the city directories. This pattern of land use was evident on the 1912 plat map of the City, which illustrated two small, Craftsman era subdivisions along Bush north of Santa Clara and on Valencia and Poinsettia south of Twentieth Street, with the remaining area divided into larger, agricultural parcels held by approximately forty landowners. While the area east of Santiago Street was not subdivided until after the mid-1920s, most of the present day streets west of Santiago had been laid out when the City was mapped in 1923. Ranching continued to be the most prevalent occupation in the neighborhood, but increasing numbers of professionals, small business owners, merchants, and people in service professions such as painters, electricians, and carpenters made their homes in the western half of the neighborhood during the 1920s and 1930s. The area also attracted several city and county officials, including the City Attorney (Z. B. West, Jr., 321 East Santa Clara Avenue), County Supervisor, First District (C. H. Chapman, 2315 North Santiago Street), County Surveyor (E. H. Irwin, 2407 North Santiago Street), and County Auditor (William C. Jerome, 2422 Poinsettia Street). By April 1942, when the Sanborn Company first mapped the western half of the area, most of the lots had been improved with single-family homes, many in the revival styles popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Subsequent development of the eastern half of the neighborhood and infill construction in the western half displayed the simplified ranch style that emerged following World War II. The West & West House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 4 for its association with famous people in history of Santa Ana. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Key” because of its association with two significant persons in the history of Santa Ana and of Orange County, Z.B. West Jr. and Franklin G. West. Character defining features of the West & West House that should be preserved, include, but not limited to: exterior materials and finishes (half-timbering); roof configuration, materials, and treatment; massing and composition; doors and windows (original multi-pane wood casement windows, where extant); chimney; and, arched entry. 2-19