|
Page 3 of 4
<br />*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumaon. SAIC
<br />
<br />Resource Name or# (Assigned by recorder) Maharajah House
<br /> *Date May 25, 2003 [] Continuation [] Update
<br />
<br />*Bt 0. Significance (continued):
<br />
<br />Even before the house was 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 divomee. 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, Pitncess Usha, and his new wife in Santa Aha. The large homo, ooe of several owned by the
<br />Maharajah, was protected by high walls and by intedor and extedor gates. According to one account, the Maharajah's
<br />instructions to Allison Honer, the prominent Orange County builder who lived across the street from the property at 615
<br />West Santa Clara Avenue, were to build a modem, but not too severe refuge. Lavishly appointed, the house contained, in
<br />1986 when it was the Intematiooal Society of Intedor Designers Orange County Chapter Design House: three bedroom
<br />suites, eight bathrooms, four fireplaces, a grand foyer, spacious living room, formal dining room, libraq/, solarium, kitchen,
<br />butleKs pantry, pool house (added later), servants' and guards' quarters, and an attached garage.
<br />
<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 f 926. The Maharajah and his Amedcan Maharani returned to India following an only one-year
<br /> residence in the house, leaving Pdncess Usha in the cara of a govemoss in Santa Ana, where she continued to attend
<br /> public schools. The pair divomed in 1943. The Maharajah marded again, to another American, 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 ofherfather. Marguerite, who also remarried, remained in the house until 1952. As of 1994,
<br /> according to one account (Marsh), Pdnces~ Usha occupied one of the HolkaKs hereditary palaces in India, although, other
<br /> information ('lndore: The H~~kar Dynosty~~) indicates that she was stdpped ~f her rank and tities by the ~ndian state in 1970
<br />
<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 Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados, and walnuts and
<br /> widely scattered ranch houses characte#zed 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 Aha, anfved in Santa Aha from Beaver Falls,
<br /> New York in 1922 (Talbert, pages 353-356). 'Before nightfall on the day of his ardval, Mr. Honer purchased a pamel of land.
<br /> And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana" (Oranos Countv Rooister. September15, 1981). The
<br /> parcel chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. fi/t/hen built in the
<br /> 1920s, the FIoral Park homes were the most lavish and expeosive in the araa. They sold for about $45,000 each' (Oranqe
<br /> County Reclister. September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide vadety of romantic styles was celebrated in the Ig20s
<br /> and 1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial
<br /> Revival. The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled
<br /> Old Santa Ana City Hall, th& El Toro Madne 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.
<br />
<br /> In the late 1920s and 1930s, aoothe r builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (I 881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral
<br /> Park. An eady Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoda Ddve between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa
<br /> Clara Avenue. The h~mes wera quite grand and disp~ayed vad~u~ reviva~ sty~es~ inc~uding Russell~s ~wn ~arge~ Colonial
<br /> Revival mansion at 2009 Victo#a Ddve. In the eady post World War II 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, horizontal 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.
<br />
<br /> The Maharajah House appears eligible for listing in the National Register of Histodc Places and the California Register of
<br /> Historical Resources. It also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Histo#cal Properties under Criterion I for its
<br /> exemplification of the Art Modeme variant 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 /> histodc character of the Floral Park neighborhood through its age, style, scale, and hisfodc associations with prominent
<br /> residents. Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Landmark" forits unique architectural significance as an
<br /> example of the Art Modeme variant of the Modeme style and its historic/cultural significance to City as the "costie~ of a
<br /> sitting ruler. All original extedor features of the Maharajah House ara considered character defining and should be
<br /> preserved. These features include, but may not be IiYnited to: materials and finishes (stucco, wrought iron); roof
<br /> configuration, materials, and treatment; massing and composition; entry, doora and windows; terraces and walled gardens;
<br /> architectural detailing (banding, window grilles, canopies, entry surround); chimneys and fireplaces; attached garage;
<br /> odginal landscaoing; and any original interior materials, spaces, finishes, and furnishings.
<br />55 A
<br /> 'I06
<br />
<br />
<br />
|