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State of California  The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________ CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________ Page 3_ of 4_ Resource Name: A.& M. Wagner House *Recorded by Ricardo Soto *Date May 2, 2018  Continuation  Update DPR 523L DPR 523A (1/95) *Required information *B10. Significance (continued): While Mr. Farney was listed as owner and builder of the residence, no evidence supports him ever living at the site. The first recorded residents of the home, according to the 1940 city directory, are Arthur S. and Mabel J. Wagner. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner were members of the Ebell Club, and held numerous bridge games and modern literature readings at the home. The next recorded occupant according to the 1950 city directory is Henry C. Houston. W.F. Burroughs is the next recorded occupant according to the 1962 city directory. According to the grant deed, Barbara K. Bruce aquired the property in late 1962 and, according to oral history provided by the applicant, resided at the proprty for ten years. Then, according to the 1979 city directory, Jorge Montello occupied the residence. 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 A.& M. Wagner House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. This neighborhood is northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados, and walnuts and widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897-1981), credited as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls, New York in 1922 (Talbert, pages 353-356). “Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land. And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana” (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. “When built in the 1920s, the Floral Park homes were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each” (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival. The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa Ana City Hall, the El Toro Marine Base during World War II, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clara Avenue. In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral Park. An early Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa Clara Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell’s own large, Colonial Revival mansion at 2009 Victoria Drive. In the early post World War II years, Floral Park continued its development as numerous, smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style. In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2003) Floral Park maintains its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens. The A. & M. Wagner House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its representation of the distinguishing characteristics of the Minimal Traditional style. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Contributive” because it “contributes to the overall character and history” of the Floral Park neighborhood, and, as a modest intact example of the Minimal Traditional style in the Floral Park neighborhood, “is a good example of period architecture.” Character defining features of the A.& M. Wagner House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to: materials and finishes (stucco and wood cladding); massing (one-story, asymmetrical); roof configuration and eave detailing; fenestration (multi-light hung wood windows); brick chimney; modest porch and architectural detailing. *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. Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1905-2017. Ancestry.com Newspapers.com (Santa Ana Register) 4-19