Appendix A Historic Property Survey Report

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State of California - The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION Primary # CONTINUATION SHEET HRI # Trinomial Page 3 of 4 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) 1003-1005 Marengo Place *Recorded by LSA Associates, Inc. *Date: April 2019 X Continuation Update *610. Significance: (continued from page 2) People Associated with this Property. According to building permits, the original owner/builder was Lee Sievers (City of Santa Ana var.). Sievers Construction Company was founded by Francis Lee Sievers (1913-2005; Ancestry.com var.). Sievers was an electrical contractor, working for his brothers' electrical business and living in Bellflower prior to World War II (Ibid.). In the post-war period, he obtained his general building contractor license and started his own business in Bellflower (Ibid.). An advertisement for his company in the Excelsior Union High School Yearbook of 1949 includes the company motto: "Distinctive Styling in Modern Building" (Ancestry.com var.). Sievers was an active home builder in Los Angeles and Orange Counties during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Although research findings to date are sparse, he appears to have specialized in small-scale residential projects (Newspapers.com var.). One notable project was Laguna Highlands Homes in Orange County. These custom two- and three -bedroom homes featured large garages, sundecks, spacious glass wall areas and kitchens with modern built-in gas ranges (Los Angeles Times 1963). Considering they were overlooking the ocean in the prestigious Arch Bay neighborhood, they appear to be relatively modest homes priced within reach of middle -income buyers (Ibid.). No listing for Marengo Place was found in the 1956 city directory for Santa Ana. In 1960, 1003 Marengo Place was listed as vacant and 1005 Marengo Place was occupied by Lloyd A. Cribbs and his wife Julie (Ancestry.com var.). In 1953, Lloyd was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and remained in the USMC when he was living in the subject duplex in 1960 (Ibid.). In 1968, Lloyd was found guilty of the 1963 murder of his ex-wife's husband (Independent 1968). In 1962, an obituary for Kaare Tomsen indicated that he lived at 1003 N. Marengo Place in Santa Ana (Independent 1962). Kaare Tomsen was born on March 24, 1896, in Denmark and died on June 14, 1962 (Ancestry.com var.). He was in the United States military during World War I and is listed as a marksman and as a Private in the Marine Corps (Ibid.). According to his 1940 Naturalization application Kaare married to Gladys in February 1932 and had five children (Ibid.). In 1940, they were all living in New York and Kaare listed his occupation as "refrigerator service" (Ibid.). In 1960, Kaare was living in Santa Ana on Bush Street, approximately 2.5 miles east of the subject property (Ibid.). No additional information about residents or owners during the historic period was found. Significance Evaluation. This property is being evaluated for listing in the National Register and California Register. Since the two sets of criteria are nearly identical, the evaluations have been combined to avoid redundancy. Under criteria All, this duplex is associated with the post -WWII residential boom that made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local, regional, and even national history. "More than 40 million housing units were built in the United States during the 30 year period following the end of World War II, and at least 30 million of these were single-family houses" (California Department of Transportation 2011:2). These homes were typically modest in size and style and constructed in a short time as part of large tracts marketed to the working class. "The fundamental unit for postwar housing is not the individual house, but the tract, or a single construction phase within a larger tract or new community" and typically a single home would not be individually significant in this context (California Department of Transportation 2011:121). As with most homes associated with this historic context, individually this residence is unimportant and insignificant. In addition, it does not appear to be a contributor to a potential historic district. Under criteria 13/2, very little information was found for the owners/residents of the duplex during the historic period, but there is no indication that it is associated with the productive life of a historically significant person. Under criteria C/3, no information regarding the architect/designer of the duplex was found, but it does not appear to be the work of a master and does not possess high artistic values. Although typical of the early post -WWII period, it is not a distinctive example of an architectural style or building type and does not rise to a level beyond the ordinary. Under criteria D/4, the duplex was built in 1956 using common methods and materials and does not have the potential to yield important information in prehistory or history. DPR 523L (1195) *Required Information