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State of California -The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />Page 3 of 4 Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Colton Mather House
<br />"Recorded by Hally Soboleske
<br />DPR 5238 (1195)
<br />'610. Significance (continued):
<br />"Date May 19, 2010 0 Continuation ? Update
<br />"Required information
<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 con: of the community was centered around the intersection of
<br />Main and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection
<br />as the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods
<br />developing to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with
<br />cultivated fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses.
<br />The Cotton Mather 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 County Register. September 15, 1981). The panel
<br />chosen became the Floral Parts 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 County
<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 El Toro Marine Base during World War 11, 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 Street 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 it years, Floral Park continued its development as
<br />numerous smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Paris tradition, they were mostly revival in style.
<br />In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2007), Floral Park maintains
<br />its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />The Cotton Mather House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
<br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the Mission/Spanish Colonial style. Additionally, the house has been
<br />categorized as "Contributive" because it "contributes to the overall character and history" of Santa Ana, and, as an intact
<br />example of the Mission/Spanish Colonial style in the Floral Parts neighborhood, "is a good example of period architecture", as
<br />well as its association with Cotton Mather, president of the Santa Ana Building and Loan Association. Character-defining
<br />exterior features of the Cotton Mather House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, exterior materials
<br />and, arched front facing windows, rusticated window and porch entry thin, and roof material.
<br />(This space reserved for official comments.)
<br />DPR 523L Page 4 of 5
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