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State of California --- The ResOu~eS Agency
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trig°miaI
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<br /> Primary #
<br /> HRI#
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<br />Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Maharajah House
<br /> *Date May 25, 2003 [] Continuation [] Update
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<br />Page 3 of 4
<br />*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, SAIC
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<br />*B'I0. Significance (continued):
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<br />Even before the house wes constructed, Yeshwant Rao Holkar, the Maharajah, had captured the public imagination.
<br />Educated at Oxford, the Maharajah had been traveling in the United States in 1936, had taken ill in Los Angeles, and had
<br />been nursed by Marguerite Lawler Branyan, an Amedcan divorcee. They marded in 1938, following the death of the
<br />Maharajah's first wife in 1937. In seamh of a safe haven pdor to the beginning of Wodd War II, the Maharajah decided to
<br />settle his young daughter, P#ncess Usha, and his new wife in Santa Ana. The large home, one of several owned by the
<br />Maharajah, was protected by high walls and by interior and extedor gates. According to one account, the Maharejah's
<br />instructions to Allison Honer, the prominent Orange County builder who lived across the street from the property at 615
<br />West Santa Clare Avenue, were to build a modem, but not too severe refuge. Lavishly appointed, the house contained, in
<br />1986 when it was the International Society of Intedor Designers Orange County Chapter Design House: three bedroom
<br />suites, eight bathrooms, four fireplaces, a grand foyer, spacious living mom, formal dining room, library, solarium, kitchen,
<br />butler's pantry, pool house (added later), servants' and guards' quarters, and an attached garage.
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<br />Said to be a progressive ruler who instituted many reforms, the Maharajah had governed Indore since the abdication of his
<br />father in his favor in 1926. The Maharajah and his Amedcan Maharani returned to India following an only one-year
<br />residence in the house, leaving Pdncess Usha in the care ora governess in Santa Ana, where she continued to attend
<br />public schools. The pair divorced in t943. The Maharajah marded again, to another Amedcan, who bore him four children
<br />including a male heir, but Pdncess Usha, as the only offspdng bom of an Indian woman, succeeded her father as ruler in
<br />1961 following the death of her father. Marguerite, who also remarried, remained in the house until 1952. As of 1994,
<br />according to one account (Marsh), Pdncess Usha occupied one of the Holkads hereditary palaces in India, although, other
<br />information ('lndore: The H~~kar Dynasty~~) indicates that she was stdpped ~f her rank and tit~es by the ~ndian stete in 1970
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<br /> The Maharajah House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West
<br /> Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Ddve, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados, and walnuts and
<br /> widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897-1981),
<br /> credited as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, ardved in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls,
<br /> New York in 1922 (Talber~, pages 353-356). "Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land.
<br /> And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana" (Oren~Te Countv Reoister. September15, 1981). The
<br /> parcel chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. '14/hen built in the
<br /> 1920s, the FIoral Park homes were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each' (Orange
<br /> ~ountv Reoister. September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide vadety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s
<br /> and 1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial
<br /> Revival. The Allison HonerConstructlon Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled
<br /> Old Santa Ana City Hall, the El Toro Marine Base dudng Wodd War II, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in
<br /> the neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clare Avenue.
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<br /> In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral
<br /> Park. An early Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoda Drive beb/veen West Nineteenth Street and West Santa
<br /> Clare Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell's own large, Colonial
<br /> Revival mansion at 2009 Victoda Drive. In the early post Wodd War tt years, Floral Park continued its development as
<br /> numerous, smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style.
<br /> In the 1950s, Iow, hodzonfal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2003) Floral Park maintains
<br /> its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
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<br /> The Maharajah House appears eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of
<br /> Historical Resources. It also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion I for its
<br /> exemplification of the Art Modeme vadant of the Modeme style and under Criterion 4b for its association with a foreign ruling
<br /> family, the Holkars of Indore, India. Architecturally, the house is distinguished by its scale, massing, horizontal lines, use of
<br /> characteristic features such as comer casement windows, and its fortress-like quality. The house also contributes to the
<br /> historic character of the Floral Park neighborhood through its age, style, scale, and histodc associations with preminent
<br /> residents. Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Landmark" forits unique architectural significance as an
<br /> example of the Art Medeme variant of the Medeme style and its historic/cultural significance to City as the 'castle" of a
<br /> sitting ruler. All original exterior features of the Maharajah House are considered character defining and should be
<br /> preserved. These features include, but may not be limited to: materials and finishes (stucco, wrought iron); roof
<br /> configuration, materials, and treatment; massing and composition; entry, doors and windows; terraces and walled gardens;
<br /> architectural detailing (banding, window grilles, canopies, entry surround); chimneys and fireplaces; attached garage;
<br /> original landscaping; and any original interior materials, spaces, finishes, and furnishings.
<br />75.A.
<br /> Page 68
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