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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 3 Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Grant House
<br />"Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howell-Ardila *Date August 13, 2008 ~ Continuation ^ Update
<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 Grant House is located in Washington Square, a neighborhood located northwest of the city center bounded by West
<br />Seventeenth Street on the north, West Civic Center Drive on the south, North Flower Street on the east, and North Bristol
<br />Street on the west. Most of this area was owned by the family of Jacob Ross, who had purchased portions of the Rancho
<br />Santiago de Santa Ana in 1868 and 1869. Walnuts and other crops were grown in the area during the late nineteenth and
<br />early twentieth centuries, with a few farmhouses, most notably the Ross-McNeal House of 1020 North Baker Street, dotting
<br />the landscape. By 1905, Baker and Towner were the only streets in the neighborhood, which extended from Hickey (now
<br />Civic Center) only as far as Washington and which contained only about a dozen homes. The status quo had not changed
<br />much by 1915, when a brick yard was located at the northern terminus of Olive Street at Hickey. In 1925, the beginning of
<br />the development that would convert this largely agricultural area into a middle class neighborhood of single-family homes
<br />over the next 25 years had begun. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Tudor Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival
<br />homes were the standard, with American Colonial Revival saltboxes and ranch style homes favored in the years before and
<br />after World War ll. During the 1930s, many of the homes were built by local contractor Emmett Rogers, who sold lots and
<br />built homes according to standard plans, which individual property owners could customize to their tastes ("Washington
<br />Square: A Neighborhood of Pride," Washington Square Neighborhood Association). With the return of servicemen following
<br />the war and the accompanying demand for homes in southern California, the development of Washington Square was all but
<br />completed.
<br />The Grant House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its exemplification
<br />of the distinguishing characteristics of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the
<br />house include its materials of file and stucco, casement windows, use of arches, and incorporation of a patio into the plan.
<br />Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Contributive" because if `contributes to the overall character and history" of
<br />Santa Ana, and, as an example of the Spanish Colonial Reviva! style `is a good example of period architecture." Character-
<br />defining exterior features of the Grant House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and
<br />finishes (stucco, tile); roof configuration and detailing; original windows and doors where extant; chimney; patio, architectural
<br />details such as the Mission Revival-influenced arch and circular clay pipe vents.
<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 Hisfory. 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 Depf. of the Inferior, 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 />Orange County Plat Maps, 1912.
<br />Historic Maps, Santa Ana History Room, 1923, 1932, 1955.
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1926-1961.
<br />DPR 523E 'f
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