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2117 N. Victoria Drive, Santa Ana, California
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<br />Ruoff, though he later remarried.7 He began his career in Pasadena working as a draftsman.8 By 1918, he
<br />moved to Los Angeles.9 In the 1920s, Ruoff wrote articles for Los Angeles Times about architecture and
<br />design of single-family homes,10 including a 1924 piece in which he wrote that the Spanish bungalow,
<br />“has proven so practical as an attractive home design, so complete in its arrangement and adapted to any
<br />locality that it has become a fixed type of architecture and can be classed as a Southern California
<br />contribution to American architectural design.”11 By the early 1920s, Ruoff formed a Los Angeles-based
<br />partnership with Arthur C. Munson. In 1922, the partnership moved to the Greenleaf Building, a two-
<br />story commercial building it had designed at 405-409 W. 4th Street in Santa Ana.12 Ruoff and Munson’s
<br />other known work in the 1920s included single-family homes in South Pasadena, Claremont, and Los
<br />Angeles,13 and new buildings for Vernon Avenue School in Los Angeles14 and at the Balboa Palisades
<br />Club.15 The partnership was dissolved in 1926.16 Ruoff subsequently began his own firm,17 with offices in
<br />the Taft Building in Los Angeles,18 and at 2nd Street and Broadway in Santa Ana.19 His firm designed
<br />several buildings in Santa Ana, including commercial buildings at the corner of Broadway and 3rd Street
<br />(address unknown, late 1920s), a two-story furniture store building at 6th and Main Streets (1929),20 and
<br />residential buildings including the homes of L.A. West at the subject property (1929) and E.B. Sprague
<br />(address unknown, late 1920s).21 The firm also designed Wilshire Branch Library in Los Angeles
<br />(1927),22 a brick hotel at Phillips and 8th Streets in Hanford (1928),23 City Hall in Brea (1928),24 Legion
<br />Hall in Brea (1929),25 and a two-story, eight room residence at 10386 Greenbar Avenue in Westwood
<br />Hills (1936).26 Ruoff died at age 51 in 1945.27
<br />
<br />History of Alterations
<br />The City of Santa Ana does not have the original building permit for the subject property from 1929 on
<br />file, nor does it have other early permits available, though there are some permits available from recent
<br />decades. All available building permit data is included in the below Table of Building Permits. Based on
<br />permit data, historic maps and photographs, and visual inspection, the property appears to have sustained
<br />relatively few alterations since its construction in 1929. The most notable changes have been: removal of
<br />original curved pathways leading from the sidewalk to the front door, with addition of one straight
<br />pathway to the front door (occurred after 1962, see Attachment B, Historic Aerials 1-6); remodeling of
<br />courtyard landscaping, including removal of some early trees and addition of new hardscape (date
<br />unknown, see Attachment B, Historic Photograph 1); remodeling of bathrooms at the interior
<br />(implemented in 1984 and 2013); addition of the existing detached entertainment room or pool room
<br />
<br />7 In 1927, Ruoff was written about in the Los Angeles Times due to a court hearing regarding failure to pay alimony and child support.
<br />“Architect Sent to Jail,” Los Angeles Times, August 24, 1970: 20, Newspapers.com.
<br />8 “Allen K. Rouff,” Pasadena City Directory, 1916: 341, Ancestry.com.
<br />9 “Views Differ on Designing,” Los Angeles Times, August 31, 1924: 69.
<br />10 “Allen K. Rouff,” Los Angeles City Directory, 1918: 1702, Ancestry.com.
<br />11 “Views Differ on Designing,” Los Angeles Times, August 31, 1924: 69.
<br />12 “50,000 Greenleaf Building Seen as Big W. Fourth Asset,” Santa Ana Register, October 16, 1922: 7.
<br />“Display Ad,” Santa Ana Register, January 11, 1923: 12.
<br />13 “Neat Appearance Feature of Five-Room Residence,” Los Angeles Times, September 28, 1924: 95.
<br />14 “Vernon Avenue School Site for New Structure,” Los Angeles Times, November 2, 1924: 95.
<br />15 “Plan Additions to Beach Club: Balboa Site of Attractive Structures,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 1924: 95.
<br />16 “Ruoff and Munson,” Pacific Coast Architecture Database, http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/firm/586/, accessed January 9, 2019.
<br />17 “Allen Rouff,” 1930 United States Federal Census, Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Page: 16A; Enumeration
<br />District: 0186; FHL microfilm: 2339875, Ancestry.com.
<br />18 “Architect Sent to Jail: Allen Rouff Must Stay there for Ninety Days in Alimony Mix Up Unless He Pays,” Los Angeles Times,
<br />August 24, 1927: 20.
<br />19 “L.A. Architect Leases Office in Santa Ana,” Santa Ana Register, December 1, 1928: 14.
<br />20 “Store Building to Rise,” Los Angeles Times, November 10, 1929: 68.
<br />21 “L.A. Architect Leases Office in Santa Ana,” Santa Ana Register, December 1, 1928: 14.
<br />22 “Display Ad,” Los Angeles Times, October 30, 1927: 133.
<br />23 “Report Received of New Hanford Hotel,” Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1928: 14.
<br />24 “Allen Kelly Ruoff,” Pacific Coast Architecture Database, http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/96/.
<br />25 “4300 Ready for Brea Legion Home,” Santa Ana Register, February 8, 1929: 10.
<br />26 “Two-Story Residence,” Los Angeles Times, October 11, 1936: 81.
<br />27 “Allen Kelly Ruoff,” Pacific Coast Architecture Database, http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/96/.
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