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<br />State of California - The Resources Agency
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET
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<br />Page ....;L of....;L
<br />*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, SAIC
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<br />Primary #
<br />HRI#
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<br />Trinomial
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<br />Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Joe Lowell House
<br />*Date August 29, 2003 ŒI Continuation 0 Update
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<br />*B6. Construction History (continued):
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<br />December 29, 1954. Patio addition to residence.
<br />January 21, 1982. Addition to garage.
<br />May 17, 1988. Wrought iron and block wall.
<br />July 26, 2002. Partial reroof of garage overhang.
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<br />Tear off existing tile roof, repair dry rot, etc., and apply roof with same tile.
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<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
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<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
<br />selection 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.
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<br />The Joe Lowell House is located in Washington Square, a neighborhood located northwest of the city center bounded by
<br />West Seventeenth Street on the north, West Civic Center Drive on the south, North Flower Street on the east, and North
<br />Bristol Street on the west. Most of this area was owned by the family of Jacob Ross, who had purchased portions of the
<br />Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana in 1868 and 1869. Walnuts and other crops were grown in the area during the late
<br />nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with a few farmhouses, most notably the Ross-McNeal House at 1020 North Baker
<br />Street, dotting the landscape. By 1905, Baker and Towner were the only streets in the neighborhood, which extended from
<br />Hickey (now Civic Center) only as far as Washington and which contained only about a dozen homes. The status quo had
<br />not changed much by 1915, when a brick yard was located at the northern terminus of Olive Street at Hickey. In 1925, the
<br />beginning of the development that would convert this largely agricultural area into a middle class neighborhood of single-
<br />family homes over the next 25 years had begun. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Tudor Revival and Spanish Colonial
<br />Revival homes were the standard, with American Colonial Revival saltboxes and ranch style homes favored in the years
<br />before and after World War II. During the 1930s, many of the homes were built by local contractor Emmett Rogers, who
<br />sold lots and built homes according to standard plans, which individual property owners could customize to their tastes
<br />('Washington Square: A Neighborhood of Pride," Washington Square Neighborhood Association). With the return of
<br />servicemen following the war and the accompanying demand for homes in southern California, the development of
<br />Washington Square was all but completed.
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<br />The Joe Lowell House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1, as a building
<br />with the "distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or period." Stylistic signatures of the Spanish Colonial
<br />Revival such the use of stucco and red clay tile and arched openings are combined in this unusual home with the cubic
<br />massing and stylized buttresses and vigas more associated with the Pueblo Revival style of the 1920s. The property also
<br />qualifies for the Santa Ana Register under Criterion 4b, for its association with Joe Lowell, who was instrumental to the
<br />development of Washington Square. Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Key" because it "has a distinctive
<br />architectural style and quality" as an example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style influenced by the Pueblo Revival, and for
<br />its association "with a significant person" in the history of the area, Joe Lowell. Character defining exterior features of the
<br />Joe Lowell House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to: materials and finishes (stucco, wood); roof
<br />configuration and treatment; massing and composition; doors and windows; porch and patios; garage; architectural detailing
<br />(buttresses, grilles, corbels, window hoods);chimney; and mature evergreen tree in north lawn.
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<br />*812. References (continued):
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<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encvclooedia. New York, WW Norton, 1998.
<br />Marsh, Diann. Santa Ana. An Illustrated Historv. Encinitas, Heritage Publishing, 1994.
<br />McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.
<br />National Register Bulletin 16A. "How to Complete the National Register Registration Form." Washington DC: National
<br />Register Branch, National Park Service, US Dept. of the Interior, 1991.
<br />Office of Historic Preservation. "Instructions for Recording Historical Resources. " Sacramento: March 1995.
<br />Armor, Samuel. Historv of Oranae Countv. Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1921.
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1905-1930.
<br />'Washington Square: A Neighborhood with Pride." Washington Square Neighborhood Association, no date.
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<br />DPR 523L
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<br />758-9
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