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HRCA-2022-5, HRC-2022-3, HPPA-2022-7 – The W.W. Woods-Ellerbroek House <br />May 5, 2022 <br />Page 2 <br />2 <br />6 <br />2 <br />4 <br />having importance to the history or architecture of the city in accordance with the criteria <br />set forth in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC). This project entails <br />applying the selection criteria established in Chapter 30 of the Santa Ana Municipal <br />Code (Places of Historical and Architectural Significance) to determine if this structure is <br />eligible for historic designation to the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. The <br />first criterion for selection requires that the structures be 50 or more years old. <br />The structure identified meets the minimum selection criteria for inclusion on the Santa <br />Ana Register of Historical Properties pursuant to criteria contained in Section 30-2 of <br />the Santa Ana Municipal Code, as the structure is 67 years old and is a good example <br />of period architecture. No known code violations exist on record for this property. <br />The W.W. Woods-Ellerbroek House is architecturally significant as a characteristic <br />example of the Ranch style. This house was originally constructed in 1955 for a cost of <br />$43,000, according to the original building permit. The first owner and builder of the <br />house was Wellington W. Woods (1899-1957) and wife Eva B. (1899-1964). Locally, he <br />was known as “WW” Woods and he owned and operated a truck sales, rental and <br />shipping company locally in Santa Ana. The architect on the project was the highly <br />regarded Philmer J. Ellerbroek, FAIA (1905-1969). Educated at USC, Ellerbroek <br />designed alone and in partnership with others and is credited with designs for schools, <br />apartment buildings, commercial buildings and institutional facilities (e.g., the <br />Community Presbyterian Church, Cathedral City, 1959, as Pleger, Blurock, Hougan, <br />and Ellerbroek, Architects) as well as numerous homes, mostly in the Newport Beach <br />area. His clients included well-known personalities, such as film star Ray Milland and <br />television host Art Linkletter. His work was photographed by architectural photographers <br />Maynard L. Parker (archives held by the Huntington Museum and Library) and Julius <br />Shulman (archives located at the Getty Museum and Conservation Institute) and <br />published in journals such as Architectural Digest. Following the Woods residency, the <br />Medlers lived the home from 1965 until 2003 with LeRoy Medler (1919-2010), a veteran <br />of World War II and local businessman and his wife Ruth Elizabeth (1922-1997) being <br />the longest continuous owners. <br />The W.W. Woods-Ellerbroek House is a single-family residential building constructed in <br />the Ranch architectural style that is predominately one-story. Asymmetrical in design, <br />the house exhibits a strong horizontal emphasis expressed through a long, low-pitched <br />roof ridge running parallel to the both east and south façades. The complex roof design <br />is composed of a side-gable crossed with a hipped roof that projects slightly to the east, <br />along the primary (east) façade. The breezeway at the primary (south) façade has a <br />side-gabled roof that intersects a front-gable. The second-story living space above the <br />attached garage is capped by a hipped roof. The exterior of the house is clad primarily <br />in board-and-batten siding and features painted brick at the primary (east) façade and <br />minimal use of smooth stucco on the north elevation. The main entrance, which is <br />located on the primary (east) façade, consists of paneled double doors that are slightly <br />recessed and sheltered under the main roof. A row of six fixed, semi-translucent lites, <br />Historic Resources Commission 5 –2 5/5/2022