|
State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________
<br />Page 3_ of 3_Resource Name: Gibbs-Wasley House
<br />*Recorded by Pedro Gomez *Date July 7, 2022 Continuation Update
<br />DPR 523L
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<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 Gibbs-Wasley House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West
<br />Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of orange, avocado, and walnut trees and
<br />widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897-1981), credited
<br />as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls, New York in
<br />1922 (Talbert, pages 353-356). “Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land. And that month,
<br />he began building custom homes in Santa Ana” (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel chosen became
<br />the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. “When built in the 1920s, the Floral Park homes
<br />were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each” (Orange County Register, September 15,
<br />1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s and Floral Park
<br />showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival. The Allison Honer
<br />Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa Ana City Hall, the El
<br />Toro Marine Base during World War II, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the neighborhood he had helped
<br />to create, at 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 II years, Floral Park continued its development as numerous,
<br />smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, homes in the neighborhood were mostly
<br />developed in the revival style. In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today
<br />(2022) Floral Park maintains its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and
<br />prominent citizens.
<br />The Gibbs-Wasley House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 as an example
<br />of the Tudor Revival style in Santa Ana. Additionally, the house has been categorized as “Key” because it has a distinctive
<br />architectural style and quality as an example of the Tudor Revival style in Santa Ana. (Santa Ana Municipal Code, Section 30-
<br />2.2). Character-defining features of the house include, but are not limited to: asymmetrical massing and composition; a steeply
<br />pitched, complex gable roof; a combination of brick and stucco exterior walls; and multiple tall, brick attached chimneys. Notable
<br />detailing includes the dramatic bellcast to one rake of the front gable; exposed, rounded and notched rafter tails and
<br />bargeboards in the shallow eaves; a barrel vaulted entry vestibule and correspondingly arched, wood-paneled, front door; brick
<br />dado reaching to first floor sill level; gabled dormers; multi-light casement windows clustered in pairs, triples, and larger groups;
<br />and brick-paved entry, stairs, and pathways.
<br />*B12. 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 />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 />
<br />Historic Resources Commission 1 – 21 9/8/2022
<br />
|