NEUMANN, DANIEL ROBERT AND JESSICA LEE

Home Browse Search

State of California—The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI# CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial Page 3 of 5 Resource Name: Moss House *Recorded by Andrea Dumovich Heywood *Date March 7, 20240 Continuation 0 Update *P3a. Description(continued): Fenestration on the side (west) façade is not visible due to a concrete block brise-soleil wall that blocks visibility. The side (east)facade contains one small louvered glass window within the interior of the porte-cochere and one partially glazed door. The rear(south)facade contains four aluminum-frame fully glazed siding doors and one partially glazed door. One of the rear sliding doors has decorative wood shutters to match those on the primary(north)facade(Figure 6). The garage door facing Buffalo Avenue is made of wood and has a row of rectangular upper lights and lower paneling. The garage's rear(south) façade contains a smaller utilitarian vehicular wood door and a single pedestrian wood door. The porte- cochere contains a wood double gate at its entrance at the primary(north)facade, with an interior vaulted gable ceiling. Additional architectural features include two wood support beams at the front porch, a central brick chimney visible at the primary(north) facade, front entrance concrete pathway lined with brick on its sides, and minimal brick infill at the driveway delineating a "T" shape. The rear yard contains a single-story, detached guest house (accessory dwelling unit) with a rectangular footprint and a gable roof and a swimming pool(Figure 7). The accessory unit's main entrance is a wood door with divided lights over solid wood paneling. Window fenestration on the accessory unit consists of black vinyl slider windows with divided lights, black vinyl one-over-one hung windows, and a double sliding glass vinyl-framed door. The property is landscaped with a front lawn, small shrubs, and low brick planters. *B10.Significance(continued): Dr Wiiliam M. Moss(1926-2018), was born in Evanston, Illinois and received his Doctor of Medicine degree from University of Illinois before moving to Santa Ana in 1957. In 1959, Dr. Moss began his surgeon practice at the Santa Ana Community Hospital and was later appointed as a board officer for the hospital in 1963 (William M. Moss, The Orange County Register and The Register December 18 1963). His then wife, Betty Rupert Moss (1932-2018), was president of the Woman's Auxiliary for the Orange County Medical Association and was a board member in various local groups including Community Chest, St. Joseph Hospital Guild, and Assistance League of Santa Ana, among others(The Register May 29 1964). In 1976, Dr. Moss and his wife Betty divorced. In the 1970s, Dr. Moss moved to Tustin and began the Doctor's Family Planning Clinic in Orange County, which offered full family planning services including abortions. When Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion, came under attack in the early 1990s, Dr William Moss was targeted by anti-abortion activists and subject to ongoing harassment, including by a Tustin City Council member, at his home in North Tustin and at his medical practice in 1990 (The Los Angeles Times, May 13 1990). He was welcomed as the guest of honor at a Pro- Choice Orange County event one year later in 1991 (The Los Angeles Times, September 22 1991). Dr Moss passed away in 2018. After the divorce in 1976, Betty continued to be actively engaged in the Santa Ana and Orange County community. In 1981 she established the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts and served as its executive director for 28 years. In 1993, the OC Metro magazine named Betty one of"Ten Women Making a Difference in Orange County"and in 2008 she received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from the OC Board of Supervisors for her community work(Betty Rupert Moss, The Orange County Register). Betty resided at the subject property for a total of 59 years until her death in 2018. In 2018, the property was purchased by its current owners,Daniel and Jessica Neumann. Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative town site on part of the Spanish land grant known as Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The civic and commercial core of the community was centered around the intersection of Main and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection as the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods developing to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with cultivated fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses. Since the second half of the twentieth century, the neighborhood in which the Moss House is located has been known as West Floral Park. Bounded by Santiago Creek on the north, West Seventeenth Street on the south, North Flower Street on the east and North Bristol Street on the west, this residential area largely developed after 1947. Prior to that time, the area was primarily agricultural, and other than Flower Street, which was improved with houses during the 1920s and 1930s, contained only a handful of residences on Baker and Bristol Streets, the City Water Works pumping plant at 2315 North Bristol Street, and the Animal Shelter and City/County Pound at 2321 North Bristol Street. Between 1947 and 1950, around two dozen homes were constructed on Baker, Olive, Towner, and Westwood Streets. Construction boomed throughout the neighborhood during the 1950s, with the California Ranch emerging as the favored residential style. The Moss House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 as an intact example of a Ranch Style house from the late-1950s Additionally the house qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion 4b, for its association with Dr. William Moss who established his surgeon practice in Santa Ana and DPR 623L