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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) Alymore-Stephenson House
<br />~eeswruva oy ~esne ~. neumann ano ueooran r-rowe~~-Aram xuate September 15, 2008 ~ Continuation ^ Update
<br />"P3a. Description (continued):
<br />wood-framed casement windows in varying configurations, set within recessed frames with little decorative elaboration.
<br />Alterations include the replacement of an original balcony in the rear elevation, the addition of a garage workshop, deck, and
<br />patio cover, none of which are prominent from the public right-of-way. In addition, the original vent in the gable apex on the
<br />facade and some of the windows appear fo be nonoriginal. Otherwise intact and in excellent repair, the residence is further
<br />enhanced by mature trees and landscaping.
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<br />manager for Kerr Glass Company, and his wife Sue (circa 1945). From circa 1947 to 1956, Terry E. Stephenson, a rancher
<br />and long-time journalist and editor for the Santa Ana Register. and his wife Betty resided in the property. Born in circa 191 D
<br />in Santa Ana, Stephenson was the son of Terry Stephenson Sr., a writer, editor, and eventually part-owner of the Santa Ana
<br />Register. After graduating from Santa Ana High School in 1927, Stephenson attended Santa Ana Junior College for two
<br />years, then completed his college education at the University of Texas. Stephenson's first position in journalism, after his
<br />1933 graduation, was with the Los Angeles Times as a stringer. After a short stint as the courthouse and police reporter for
<br />the Long Beach Press Telegram in 1934, Stephenson worked as the police reporter for the Santa Ana Journal and Santa
<br />Ana Register. Following aten-year hiatus from journalism, during which time he worked in public relations in Maryland and
<br />Nebraska, Stephenson became managing editor of the Anaheim Bulletin in 1945. He rejoined the Santa Ana Register in
<br />1950, where he held a number of editorial positions until his retirement in 1978. 8y 1962, the Stephenson's had moved, and
<br />the property at 2415 North Riverside became the address for Ralph Pierson, a salesman for National Refrigeration, and his
<br />wife Myrtis. The property has shifted hands on several occasions in the intervening decades.
<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 Alymore-Stephenson House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by
<br />West Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados and walnuts,
<br />and 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 Cify 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 Wesf 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 to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />(See Continuation Sheet 4 of 4.)
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