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State of California -The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
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<br />• -a- ~ -• - ncavu~~e ~9i1~OC yr 9f ~HSSignea uy recoraer) tfeSSer HOUSe
<br />"Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howell Ardila *Date September 25, 2006 ~ Continuation ^ Update
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<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.
<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 ce/ebrafed 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 ll, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the
<br />neighborhood he had helped fo create, at 615 West Santa Clara Avenue.
<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 Wesf 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 ll 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 fo many affluent and prominent citizens.
<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 `9s a good example of period architecture." Character-defrning 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.
<br />*B12. References (continued):
<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. 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 />Armor, Samuel. History of Orange County. Los Angeles: History Record Company, 1921.
<br />Franklin, Don. `lVW 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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