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State of California-The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />rage ~ or ~ Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Claycomb House
<br />"Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann, SA1C *Date December 5, 2001 ~ Continuation ^ Update
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<br />Santa Ana. Thinking to capitalize on commercial growth around the railroad, the partners purchased 160 acres adjacent to
<br />the eastern city boundary at French Street. Although they were successful in luring the Southern Pacific to a new depot on
<br />Fruit Street in Santa Ana in 1878, the expected commercial development of "Santa Ana East" never materialized. Early
<br />growth and development of the Town continued to be centered further west around Fourth and Main Streets, with the result
<br />that the legacy of Santa Ana East is an angled street plan whose intersection with the original city is marked by a small,
<br />triangular parcel, developed in the 1890s as Flatiron Park, now known as French Park. Santa Ana continued to grow,
<br />stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1886. Following its incorporation as a city in 1886, Santa Ana was
<br />recognized as one of the leading communities in the area in 1889 when it became the seat of the newly created County of
<br />Orange.
<br />Beginning in the 1880s and continuing well into the twentieth century, the area around the park began to be developed with
<br />many of the finest homes in Santa Ana. Examples of Victorian era, turn of the century, and Craftsman homes were built
<br />along the tree-lined streets. By the 1920s, most streets in the neighborhood were fully developed, although a few revival
<br />styled single-family homes and duplexes were built during the 1920s, and a handful of apartments constructed in the 1930s.
<br />From the nineteenth century onwards, residents were a "Who's Who" of early Santa Ana and included bankers, attorneys,
<br />doctors, businessmen, ranchers, teachers, and others active in the civic and social life of the city.
<br />Once known as the `Nob Hill" of Santa Ana, French Park declined in the 1940s and 1950s as some homes were converted
<br />into rooming houses and others were allowed to deteriorate. In the 1960s and 1970s some houses were demolished and
<br />the properties redeveloped with multi-family housing. However, a grass roots preservation effort begun in the late 1970s led
<br />to the establishment of a local historic district in 1984 and the listing of the neighborhood in the National Register of Historic
<br />Places in 1999.
<br />The Claycomb House contributes to the French Park Historic District through its architectural style and type, which are
<br />representative of the district during its period of growth and significance (established by the National Register nomination as
<br />1877-1945). It is one of a handful of properties which were moved into French Park from streets that were becoming more
<br />commercial in use during the historic period (several more homes were recently been moved into French Park in the last
<br />decades of the twentieth century). The Claycomb House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributor
<br />to the French Park Historic District, is therefore listed in the Califomia Register of Historical Resources, and is located within
<br />the boundaries of the locally designated historic district. It is also included in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property
<br />and has been categorized as `Key." Rehabilitated in 1999-2000, the Claycomb House possesses substantial integrity from
<br />1929, when the house was moved to the present site. It exhibits the box-like proportions, two-story massing, wood siding,
<br />and hipped roof that characterize the American Foursquare genre. All original and restored exterior features of the
<br />Claycomb House are considered to be character defining and should be preserved. These features include, but may not be
<br />limited to: materials and finishes (siding, shingling), roof configuration and detailing, bays, original windows and doors
<br />where extant, and architectural detailing such as brackets.
<br />*B12. References (continued):
<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encvclooedia. New York, WW Norton, 1998.
<br />Marsh, Diann. Santa Ana. An Illustrated History. 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 />Whitten, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
<br />DPR 523E
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