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HEMA No. 2024-03 – The St. Thomas-Hamilton House (1002 N. French Street) July 15, 2024 Page 2 4 3 8 8 District. The historic district is also listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. However, the property is not individually listed in the California Register of Historical Resources or in the local Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. Historic Property Description The St. Thomas-Hamilton House is a single-story, multi-family residence, located on a moderately sized parcel and designed in a Colonial Revival style, with a simple mid- century style two-story addition, added in the 1940s. Narrow clapboard siding covers the upper two-thirds of the single-story house, while wide shiplap siding covers the lower third. A hipped roof, which extends downward to cover the wrap-around porch, features hipped dormers facing south and east. Enclosed eaves and a moulding-trimmed frieze accent the roofline. The original wrap-around porch includes turned posts, carved brackets, and a delicate balustrade. Two-by-fours were added to act as an anchor for screen material. It was noted that the ball-and-spindle fretwork was removed from the porch and that the southern portion of the porch was enclosed several years prior to the 1999 national register nomination form (Exhibit 4). The curved base of the porch features rows of decorative squares with a hole in the center and in the corners of each square. A door has been installed in the place of the original window in the center of the north half of the front facade. On the Tenth Street side, there are two trios of windows. One of the center windows has been converted to a doorway and a stairway with wrought iron rail added. Concrete stairs, wrought iron railings, and metal awnings have been added to the front. A two-story, five-unit apartment addition clad in stucco, was added to the back (west elevation) in 1946. Wooden stairs at each end lead to the second floor units. There are several alterations to this house, including the additional stairs, wrought iron rails, metal awnings, doorway changes, and the addition of the units in the back. However, the single-story portion retains much of its original character when viewed from the front. Character-defining features of the single-story portion of the St. Thomas-Hamilton House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to: hipped roof, enclosed eaves and a moulding-trimmed frieze, narrow clapboard siding, wide shiplap siding, original exterior doors, mouldings, porch posts, brackets, wood balustrades, frieze spindles, spandrels, and skirting. Project Background In August 2022, the applicant submitted plans and a neighborhood review application (NR-2022-14) to the Planning Division. At the time, the applicant proposed to restore the wrap-around porch enclosure to original condition, proposed to replace certain character- defining features (e.g., wood rail, below the frieze; new wood spindles; wood baluster) with in-kind materials, and proposed to replace the existing mismatched railing systems, with one single wrought iron railing design. The French Park Architectural Review Committee (FPARC) provided their initial comments on August 12, 2022, which can be found as part of Exhibit 8. The FPARC largely supported the removal of the existing porch Historic Resources Commission 139 7/15/2024