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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 />Primary #
<br />HRI#
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<br />Trinomial
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<br />Page L of L Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder)
<br />'Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howell-Ardila *Date September 25, 2006
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<br />Besser House
<br />IRI Continuation
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<br />o Update
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<br />*810. 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 selection
<br />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 Besser House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by East
<br />Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, 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, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls,
<br />New York in 1922 (Talbert, 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" (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel
<br />chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. 'When built in the 1920s, the
<br />Floral Park homes were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each" (Orange County
<br />Register, September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and
<br />1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival.
<br />The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa
<br />Ana City Hall, the EI Toro Marine Base during World War II, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the
<br />neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clara 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 Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa
<br />Clara Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell's own large, Colonial
<br />Revival mansion at 2009 Victoria Drive. In the early 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, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2006) Floral Park maintains its
<br />identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
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<br />The Besser House also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion 3 for its
<br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the English Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the
<br />house include its combination of stucco cladding with sparse ornament; shingles with rolled edges; its gabled massing; and
<br />its emphasis on vertical features such as the medium-pitched gables. Additionally, the house has been categorized as
<br />"Contributive" because it "contributes to the overall character and history" of Santa Ana, and, as an example of the English
<br />Revival style ''is a good example of period architecture." Character-defining exterior features of the Besser House that should
<br />be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and finishes (stucco, wood, and brick); roof configuration and
<br />detailing; original windows and doors where extant; chimney; architectural details such as the shingles with rolled edges and
<br />arched entryway.
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<br />*812. References (continued):
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<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated EncvcloDedia. 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 />Whitten, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
<br />Armor, Samuel. Historv of Oranae Countv. Los Angeles: History Record Company, 1921.
<br />Franklin, Don. "NW Santa Ana History: Roy Russell & Son, Builders." Unsourced article from the Santa Ana History Room
<br />Historic House File, circa 1995.
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1932-1954.
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<br />DPR 523L
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<br />25bL-8
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