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State of California -The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />Paae 3 of 4 Resource Name or # lAssianed by recorded J. C. Horton House
<br />"Recorded by Hally Soboleske 'Date August 26, 2009 ^D Continuation ^ Update
<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 on the intersection of Main
<br />and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection as
<br />the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods developing to
<br />the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with cultivated fields and
<br />orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses.
<br />The J. C. Horton 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 Countv Register. September 15, 1981). The parcel
<br />chosen became the Floral Paris 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 Countv
<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 Worid 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 Streef 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 Panic tradition, they were mostly revival in style.
<br />!n the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Parfc. Today (2007), Floral Paris maintains
<br />its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />The J. C. Horton lies in the northern section of Floral Panic historically known as North Broadway Park. Bounded by Riverside
<br />Drive, Santa Clara Avenue, North Broadway, and North Flower Streef, North Broadway Park, subdivided in 1923, has been
<br />determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Keeper of the National Register found that
<br />"North Broadway Paris reflects the City Beautiful planning movement in Southern California during the early twentieth century.
<br />The vernacular adaptations of period revival styles, curvilinear street patterns, street furniture, and landscape combine to
<br />create a cohesive and pleasant middle class suburban neighborhood environment which is unique in the early historical
<br />development of the city of Santa Ana. "~
<br />The J. C. Horton House also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties as Key because it
<br />possesses "distinctive architectural style and quality'; and, as an intact and unusual example of the combination of the
<br />Colonial Revival style in the Floral Park neighborhood due to the rock on the front facade, as well as its association with
<br />entrepreneur, John Clyde Horton, a "significant person in the city. Character-defining exterior features of the J. C. Horton
<br />House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and finishes (stucco, rock veneer, and wood);
<br />roof confrguration and detailing; original windows and doors where extant; deep setbacks.
<br />~ Determination of Eligibility, February 25, 1980.
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