|
State of California ⎯⎯ The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________________
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________________
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial _____________________________________________
<br />Page 3_ of 5_Resource Name: Moss House
<br />*Recorded by Andrea Dumovich Heywood *Date March 7, 2024⌧ Continuation Update
<br />DPR 523L
<br />*P3a. Description (continued):
<br />Fenestration on the side (west) façade is not visible due to a concrete block brise-soleil wall that blocks visibility. The side
<br />(east) façade contains one small louvered glass window within the interior of the porte-cochere and one partially glazed door.
<br />The rear (south) façade contains four aluminum-frame fully glazed siding doors and one partially glazed door. One of the rear
<br />sliding doors has decorative wood shutters to match those on the primary (north) façade (Figure 6).
<br />The garage door facing Buffalo Avenue is made of wood and has a row of rectangular upper lights and lower paneling. The
<br />garage’s rear (south) façade contains a smaller utilitarian vehicular wood door and a single pedestrian wood door. The porte-
<br />cochere contains a wood double gate at its entrance at the primary (north) façade, with an interior vaulted gable ceiling.
<br />Additional architectural features include two wood support beams at the front porch, a central brick chimney visible at the
<br />primary (north) façade, front entrance concrete pathway lined with brick on its sides, and minimal brick infill at the driveway
<br />delineating a “T” shape. The rear yard contains a single-story, detached guest house (accessory dwelling unit) with a
<br />rectangular footprint and a gable roof and a swimming pool (Figure 7). The accessory unit’s main entrance is a wood door
<br />with divided lights over solid wood paneling. Window fenestration on the accessory unit consists of black vinyl slider windows
<br />with divided lights, black vinyl one-over-one hung windows, and a double sliding glass vinyl-framed door. The property is
<br />landscaped with a front lawn, small shrubs, and low brick planters.
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<br />Dr. William M. Moss (1926-2018), was born in Evanston, Illinois and received his Doctor of Medicine degree from University
<br />of Illinois before moving to Santa Ana in 1957. In 1959, Dr. Moss began his surgeon practice at the Santa Ana Community
<br />Hospital and was later appointed as a board officer for the hospital in 1963 (William M. Moss, The Orange County Register
<br />and The Register, December 18 1963). His then wife, Betty Rupert Moss (1932-2018), was president of the Woman's
<br />Auxiliary for the Orange County Medical Association and was a board member in various local groups including Community
<br />Chest, St. Joseph Hospital Guild, and Assistance League of Santa Ana, among others (The Register, May 29 1964). In 1976,
<br />Dr. Moss and his wife Betty divorced. In the 1970s, Dr. Moss moved to Tustin and began the Doctor’s Family Planning Clinic
<br />in Orange County, which offered full family planning services including abortions. When Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme
<br />Court decision to legalize abortion, came under attack in the early 1990s, Dr. William Moss was targeted by anti-abortion
<br />activists and subject to ongoing harassment, including by a Tustin City Council member, at his home in North Tustin and at
<br />his medical practice in 1990 (The Los Angeles Times, May 13 1990). He was welcomed as the guest of honor at a Pro-
<br />Choice Orange County event one year later in 1991 (The Los Angeles Times, September 22 1991). Dr. Moss passed away in
<br />2018.
<br />After the divorce in 1976, Betty continued to be actively engaged in the Santa Ana and Orange County community. In 1981
<br />she established the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts and served as its executive director for 28 years. In
<br />1993, the OC Metro magazine named Betty one of “Ten Women Making a Difference in Orange County” and in 2008 she
<br />received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from the OC Board of Supervisors for her community work (Betty Rupert
<br />Moss, The Orange County Register). Betty resided at the subject property for a total of 59 years until her death in 2018. In
<br />2018, the property was purchased by its current owners, Daniel and Jessica Neumann.
<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
<br />developing to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with
<br />cultivated fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses.
<br />Since the second half of the twentieth century, the neighborhood in which the Moss House is located has been known as
<br />West Floral Park. Bounded by Santiago Creek on the north, West Seventeenth Street on the south, North Flower Street on
<br />the east and North Bristol Street on the west, this residential area largely developed after 1947. Prior to that time, the area
<br />was primarily agricultural, and other than Flower Street, which was improved with houses during the 1920s and 1930s,
<br />contained only a handful of residences on Baker and Bristol Streets, the City Water Works pumping plant at 2315 North
<br />Bristol Street, and the Animal Shelter and City/County Pound at 2321 North Bristol Street. Between 1947 and 1950, around
<br />two dozen homes were constructed on Baker, Olive, Towner, and Westwood Streets. Construction boomed throughout the
<br />neighborhood during the 1950s, with the California Ranch emerging as the favored residential style.
<br />
<br />The Moss House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 as an intact example
<br />of a Ranch Style house from the late-1950s. Additionally, the house qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical
<br />Property under Criterion 4b, for its association with Dr. William Moss who established his surgeon practice in Santa Ana and
<br />
<br />
<br />
|