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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) Larsen-Wahlberg House
<br />'Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howell-Ardila *Date May 8, 2008 O Continuation ^ Update
<br />DPR 5238 (1195) *Required information
<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 arriva! 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 Larsen-Wahlberg House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West
<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; 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 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 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 11 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 (2008), Floral Park maintains
<br />its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home fo many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />The Larsen-Wahlberg House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
<br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the English Reviva! style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the
<br />house include its asymmetrical composition; multi-gabled roof with rolled eaves; casement windows; and its overall emphasis
<br />on verticality. Additionally, the house has been categorized as `Key" because of its association with Harold Wahlberg, a
<br />pioneer in the avocado-growing industry. Character-defining exterior features of the Larsen-Wahlberg House that should be
<br />preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and finishes (wood); roof configuration and detailing; original windows
<br />and doors where extant; attached chimney,' architectural details such as the rolled wood shingles on the eaves and scored
<br />plaster quoining surrounding the picture window on the facade.
<br />612. References (continued):
<br />Armor, Samuel. History of Orange County. Los Angeles: History Record Company, 1921, p. 1306.
<br />Franklin, Don. "IVW Santa Ana History: Roy Russell & Son, Builders." Unsourced article from the Santa Ana History Room,
<br />Historic House File, circa 1995.
<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. 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 />McGuinnes, Liz. `A Fruitful Career: Mosquito Bite Changed a Life." Los Angeles Times. September 24, 1980, part V, pp. 1
<br />and 8.
<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 />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1932-1954.
<br />(See Continuation Sheet 3 of 4.)
<br />DPR 523E ~ ~ ~f
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