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State of California -The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />Page 3 of 4 Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Hewitt House
<br />xRecordetl by Leslie J. Neumann and Deborah Howell-Ardila *Date July 27, 2007 ~ Continuation ^ Update
<br />DPR 5238 (1/95) *Required information
<br />*610. 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 Hewitt House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by Wesf
<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 Countv 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 Countv
<br />Register. September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and
<br />1930s; Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival
<br />styles. The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco-styled Old
<br />Santa 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 create, at 615 Wesf 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 11 years, Floral Park continued ifs 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 (2007), Floral Park maintains
<br />its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />The R. G. Hewitt House lies in the northern section of Floral Park historically known as North Broadway Park. Bounded by
<br />Riverside Drive, Santa Clara Avenue, North Broadway, and North Flower Street, North Broadway Park, subdivided in 1923,
<br />has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Keeper of the National Register found
<br />that `North Broadway Park reflects the City Beautiful planning movement in Southern California during the early twentieth
<br />century. The vernacular adaptations of period revival styles, curvilinear street patterns, street furniture, and landscape
<br />combine to create a cohesive and pleasant middle class suburban neighborhood environment which is unique in the early
<br />historical development of the city of Santa Ana. "' Under the regulations implementing the California Register of Historical
<br />Resources, the Hewitt House, which is a contributor to the National Register district, has been listed in the California
<br />Register.
<br />The R. G. Hewitt House also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
<br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the transitional period in residential architectural design occurring in the
<br />mid to late 1930s. Typical features of this period illustrated by the house include its two-story, cross-gabled massing and
<br />configuration; differentiation of cladding materials on first and second stories (with stucco on first story and horizontal wood-
<br />cladding); wood-framed casement windows flanked by false shutters; and covered porch. Additionally, the house has been
<br />categorized as "Contributive" because it `contributes to the overall character and history" of Santa Ana, and, as an intact
<br />example of the transitional period in the mid to late 1930s in the Floral Park neighborhood, `is a good example of period
<br />architecture." Character-defining exterior features of the Hewitt House that should be preserved include, but may not be
<br />limited to, materials and finishes (stucco and wood); roof configuration and detailing; original windows and doors where
<br />extant; attached chimney; architectural details such as the decorative shutters and iron fasteners.
<br />' Determination of Eligibility, February 25, 1980.
<br />DPR 523E ~ ~~4 „~G
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