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State of Californ la —The Resources Agency
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET
<br />Page 3 of 3 Resource Nam
<br />*Recorded by Ricardo Soto
<br />*1310. Significance (continued):
<br />nary
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<br />omial
<br />*Date October4, 20180 Continuation ❑ Update
<br />Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative town site on part of the Spanish land grant known as
<br />Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The civic and commercial core of the community was centered around the intersection of
<br />Main and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection
<br />as the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods developing
<br />to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with cultivated fields and
<br />orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses.
<br />The Edwards House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West Seventeenth
<br />Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados, and walnuts and widely scattered
<br />ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developerand builder Allison Honer (1897-1981), credited as the subdivider
<br />and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls, New York in 1922 (Talbert,
<br />pages 353-356). "Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land. And that month, he began
<br />building custom homes in Santa Ana" (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel chosen became the Floral
<br />Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. "When built in the 1920s, the Floral Park homes were the
<br />most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each" (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981).
<br />Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s and Floral Park showcased
<br />examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival. The Allison Honer Construction
<br />Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa Ana City Hall, the EI Toro Marine
<br />Base during World War 1l, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the neighborhood he had helped to create, at
<br />615 West Santa Clara Avenue.
<br />In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral Park.
<br />An early Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa Clara
<br />Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell's own large, Colonial Revival
<br />mansion at 2009 Victoria Drive. In the early post World War 11 years, Floral Park continued its development as numerous,
<br />smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style. In the 1950s,
<br />low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2018) Floral Park maintains its identity as the
<br />premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />The Edwards House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1, as a building with
<br />the "distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or period," representative of the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
<br />Typical features of the Spanish Colonial Revival exhibited by the Edwards House include stucco cladding, barrel tile coping
<br />and roofing, asymmetrical composition, arched openings, and stepped parapet. Additionally, the house has been categorized
<br />as "Contributive" because it `contributes to the overall character and history" of the Floral Park neighborhood and is a `good
<br />example of period architecture" as a highly intact example of a one-story Spanish Colonial Revival house from the 1920s.
<br />Character defining features of the Edwards House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to: materials and
<br />finishes (stucco); roof configuration, materials, and treatment (clay barrel tiling); massing and composition; doors and windows
<br />(Prairie School -style wood casement windows, where extant); entry portico; and porte-cochere.
<br />*1312. References (continued):
<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York, WW Norton, 1998,
<br />Marsh, Diann, Santa Ana, An Illustrated History. Encinitas, Heritage Publishing, 1994.
<br />McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.
<br />National Register Bulletin 16A. `How to Complete the National Register Registration Form." Washington DC: National
<br />Register Branch, National Park Service, US Dept. of the Interior, 1991.
<br />Office of Historic Preservation. "Instructions for Recording Historical Resources." Sacramento: March 1995.
<br />Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969,
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1905-2017.
<br />Ancestry.com
<br />Newspapers.com (Santa Ana Register)
<br />Historic Maps, Santa Ana History Room, 1912, 1923, 1932, and 1955.
<br />DPR 523L
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