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State of California-The Resources Agency Primary # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial Page 3 of 4 Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Purinton House rcecoraea Dy ~esl~e ~. r-eumann and Deborah Howell-Ardila *Date November 7, 2007 ~ Continuation ^ Update *B10. Significance (continued): By 1947, Ralph 8. Coomber, a physician in practice at 1205 North Broadway, and his wife Amelia occupied the home. Subsequent residents were James M. Johnson, who served with the US Marine Corps, and his wife Marguerite (from circa 1952 to 1956), Mrs. Frances Schonfelder in the mid-1950s, and Fred L. Whitney and his wife Lordelia (circa early 1960s). Occupancy has since changed on several occasions. Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative town site on part of the Spanish land grant known as Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The civic and commercial core of the community was centered around the intersection of Main and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection as the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods developing to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with cultivated frelds and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses. The Purinton House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by East Seventeenth Street North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados, and walnuts and widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897-1981), credited as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls, New York in 1922 (Talbert, pages 353-356). `Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land. And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana" (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. "When built in the 1920s, the Floral Park homes were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each" (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival. The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa Ana City Hall, the EI Toro Marine Base during World War ll, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clara Avenue. In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral Park. An early Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa Clara Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell's own large, Colonial Revival mansion at 2009 Victoria Drive. In the early post World War 11 years, Floral Park continued ifs development as numerous, smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style. In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2007) Floral Park maintains its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens. The Purinton House lies in the northern section of Floral Park historically known as North Broadway Park. Bounded by Riverside Drive, Santa Clara Avenue, North Broadway, and North Flower Street, North Broadway Park, subdivided in 1923, has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Keeper of the National Register found that `North Broadway Park reflects the City Beautiful planning movement in Southern California during the early twentieth century. The vernacular adaptations of period revival styles, curvilinear street patterns, street furniture, and landscape combine fo create a cohesive and pleasant middle class suburban neighborhood environment which is unique in the early historical development of the city of Santa Ana. "' Under the regulations implementing the California Register of Historical Resources, the Taylor House, which is a contributor to the National Register district, has been listed in the California Register. The Purinton House also qualities for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its exemplirrcation of the distinguishing characteristics of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the house include the signature combination of stucco walls with a red the roof,• deeply recessed entry and casement windows; horizontal massing suggestive of a hacienda; asymmetrical composition; and wood-trimmed eaves. Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Contributive" because it `contributes to the overall character and history" of Santa Ana, and, as an example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style `9s a good example of period architecture." Characfer- defining exterior features of the Purinton House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and knishes (stucco, wood, wrought iron, and red files); asymmetrical treatment of elements on the fagade; roof configuration and detailing; original windows and doors where extant; brick chimney; architectural details such as the piers between facade windows. ~ Determination of Eligibility, February 25, 1980. DPR 523E ~~~5