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HRCA No. 2025-12, HRC No. 2025-08, HPPA No. 2025-07— The Joy House (1402 S. <br />Birch Street) <br />January 29, 2026 <br />Page 2 <br />Analysis of the Issues <br />Historical Listing <br />In March 1999, the City Council approved Ordinance No. NS-2363 establishing the <br />Historic Resources Commission and the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. The <br />Historic Resources Commission may, by resolution and at a noticed public hearing, <br />designate as a historical property any building or part thereof, object, structure, or site <br />having importance to the history or architecture of the city in accordance with the criteria <br />set forth in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC). This project entails <br />applying the selection criteria established in Chapter 30 of the SAMC (Places of Historical <br />and Architectural Significance) to determine if this structure is eligible for historic <br />designation to the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. The first criterion for <br />selection requires that the structures be 50 or more years old. <br />The structure identified meets the selection criteria for inclusion on the Santa Ana <br />Register of Historical Properties pursuant to criteria contained in Section 30-2 of the <br />SAMC, as the structure is 78 years old and is a sound example of period architecture. No <br />known code violations exist on record for this property. <br />The Joy House is architecturally significant as an intact example of a Minimal Traditional - <br />style house in Santa Ana. The original building permit indicates the property was <br />constructed in 1947 as a house consisting of six rooms and a detached garage at a cost <br />of $8,000.00. The original building permit does not identify an architect or contractor, <br />though the property may have been constructed by Coast Construction Company, which <br />is indicated as the original owner. The earliest known occupants are Carroll H. and Donna <br />Aloen (nee Miller) Joy, who, city directory listings show, lived at the address by 1949 <br />(Ancestry.com 2011). Prior to the Joy family's acquisition of the subject property, Carroll <br />was a decorated pilot during World War II and, in civilian life, owned a service station, <br />before entering a career as an insurance agent (Santa Ana Register July 8, 1944; Santa <br />Ana Register November 20, 1947; The Register August 7, 1955 ). In 1953, the Joys <br />constructed an addition to the rear (north) of the residence. Donna served as president <br />of the Spurgeon Parent Teacher Association in Santa Ana in 1959 (The Register March <br />7, 1959). In June 1966, Donna passed away (The Register June 6, 1966). Within three <br />years of Donna's passing, the property was owned by the family of Charles R. Bryan. City <br />building permits show the Bryan family constructed an addition to the detached garage in <br />1972. The property remained in the possession of the Bryan family until at least as <br />recently as 2016, when city building permit records show Dolly Bryan was the owner. The <br />current owners, Laura Trudeau and Nicholas Timmons, acquired the property in 2024. <br />Located on a corner parcel in the Wilshire Square neighborhood, the Joy House consists <br />of a one-story, single-family residence and detached garage constructed in the Minimal <br />Traditional style. The parcel is bounded on the west by Birch Street and on the north by <br />