Agenda Packet 11.6.25 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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French Park Historic District, Santa Ana, CA Orange County om fC9* aot$ Inited States Department of the Interior lational Park Service rational Register of Historic Piaces ^ontinuatiort Sheet ^tion number Page The proposed French Park Historic District, located a few blocks to the northeast of the Downtown Santa Ana Historic District, is the best and most intact 1890s to 1920 neighborhood in Santa Ana. The boundaries are the commercial Main Street corridor on the west, the railroad tracks/industrial area on the east. Civic Center Blvd. on the south and the north side of Washington Street on the north. That neighborhood, called French Court, contains a predominance of apartment buildings and condominiums. The south side of Civic Center is bordered by a church, condominiums, the post office, and several parking lots. Local historic district status was granted by the Santa Ana City Council in 1984. The unique street pattern of the French Park neighborhood was formed when Santa Ana East was platted in 1878. French Park occupies the triangular piece created at that time. In the late 1890's prominent Santa Ana citizens began to build large Neo-classical and Colonial Revival homes in the southern half of the neighborhood, giving rise to the nickname, "The Nob Hill of Orange County. In the 1910s several large well-designed Craftsman Bungalows were built in the northern portion. Smaller Colonial Revival and Transitional Bungalows occupy the easternmost streets, such as Lacy, Minter, and Garfield. French Park was the first residential neighborhood in Santa Ana to place its electrical poles along the back of the lots, instead of along the front. Mature palms. Pepper trees, and Live Oaks, line the wide streets. In the 1920s and early 30s, as a reflection of the growth of Santa Ana, the county seat, nine fourplex apartment houses, all in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, were built. The dramatic balconies, stairways, arched windows, and other character-defining features make them an asset to the neighborhood. In the late 1930s, the French Park district was one of the first areas to experience a building revival after the Depression. Ten fourplexes and a few duplexes reflected the need for multiple housing in Orange County's largest and, at that time, fastest growing city. In the 1940s and 50s, most of the large homes became rooming houses. The district is composed of historically interdependent residences which have seen few alterations and exhibit the special character associated with the district's time and place in history. On the whole, the buildings are well-maintained and retain their architectural integrity. Most of the houses, returned to single-family owner-occupied status, are in the process of being restored to their former beauty.