Agenda Packet 7.9.25 - Laserfiche WebLink

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HRCA No. 2025-06 and HRC No. 2025-05 – The Mills House (2429 N. Poinsettia Street) July 9, 2025 Page 2 5 1 2 6 having importance to the history or architecture of the city in accordance with the criteria set forth in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC). This project entails applying the selection criteria established in Chapter 30 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (Places of Historical and Architectural Significance) to determine if this structure is eligible for historic designation to the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. The first criterion for selection requires that the structures be 50 or more years old. The structure identified meets the selection criteria for inclusion on the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties pursuant to criteria contained in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code, as the structure is 100 years old and is a sound example of period architecture. No known code violations exist on record for this property. The Mills House is architecturally significant as an intact example of a Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Santa Ana. Assessor data indicates it was built in 1925. The original architect and contractor are unknown. The earliest known occupants are Sarah and Edmund M. Mills, who purchased the property by February 1926, according to an article published in the Santa Ana Register on February 25, 1926. Prior to the Mills family's acquisition of the subject property, Edmund was a member of the Methodist Ministry serving in the Syracuse, New York, area. He was also president of the Syracuse Rose Society and the American Rose Society, both of which promoted appreciation of the rose (Stack no date). Edmund died in 1933 (Imperial Valley Press March 15, 1933). By May 1935, the family of Guy J. Gilbert resided in the subject residence, followed later that same year by the family of Howard I. Wood (Santa Ana Journal). By 1947, Thomas and Alpha Cave moved into the property. City records show that Alpha Cave was associated with the property until 2002 and that the current owner and resident, Carol Park, acquired the property that same year. Located on a corner parcel in the Park Santiago neighborhood, the Mills House consists of a one-story, single-family residence and detached garage constructed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The parcel is bounded on the west by North Poinsettia Street and on the north by Edgewood Road. The residence is irregular in plan, with exterior walls sheathed in stucco and a complex roof clad alternately in clay barrel tiles and rolled composite material. Facing Poinsettia Street to the west, the asymmetrical main façade is shaped by the house’s complex roof; in particular, it features a wing-and-gable composition interrupted by a pyramidal portico roof situated at the juncture of two intersecting wings. A pair of arched entries provide ingress and egress to the portico, which shelters a non-historic glazed wood front door. On either side of the portico, windows are deeply set within segmental arch surrounds; both windows consist of a multi- pane, fixed, wood central sash flanked by two eight-light wood sashes with fixed or casement configurations. Located above the gable-end window is a circular clay gable vent. Other notable primary-façade elements include a low stucco wall enclosing a concrete front patio, arched portal to the southern side yard, and a molded stucco ornamental feature suggestive of an oeil de boeuf. Secondary façades on the north, south, and east, including the rear addition completed circa 2012, are consistent with the general characteristics of the front-facing west façade, Historic Resources Commission 96 7/9/2025