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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) Swanner House *Recorded by Deborah Howell-Ardila and Laura Carias *Date October 20, 2008 O Continuation ^ Update *B10. Significance (continued): Through the 1930s, the home was address to Thomas E. Stephenson and his wife Josephine (1932); salesman Henry F. Osgood and his wife Ruth (1933 to 1934); Lawrence M. Young, a physician, and his wife Grace (1935); and Raymond M. Taylor, a supervisor with Edison Company, and his wife Mildred. In the 1940s, occupancy again shifted, as Forrest R. Menzie, the owner of a television service shop called Menzie Tele-Sound, and his wife Marie lived in the residence from circa 1945 through 1956. Ownership has shifted on several occasions in the intervening decades. 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 fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses. The Swanner House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West 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 Countv 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 Countv Register. September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s; Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival styles. 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 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 its 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 (2008), Floral Park maintains its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens. The Swanner 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 to 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 Kelly House, which is a contributor to the National Register district, has been listed in the California Register. The Swanner House also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the house include its smooth stucco finish; low-pitched cross-gabled roof with red clay tiles, shallow eaves, and use of a stepped parapet; and wood-framed, multi-light windows. Additionally, the house has been categorized as `Key" because it "The building is associated with a significant person in the city."of Santa Ana, and is an intact example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style in the Floral Park neighborhood. Character-defining exterior features of the Swanner House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and finishes (smooth stucco finish, wood, red clay tiles); roof configuration and detailing; and original windows and doors where extant. ' Determination of Eligibility, February 25, 1980. DPR 523E