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State of California — The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI If
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />"Recorded by Hally Soboleske
<br />DPR 523B (1195)
<br />"B10. Significance (continued):
<br />or # (Assigned by recorder) Berck -Gilbert House
<br />`Date June 04, 2013 17 Continuation O 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 core 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 Berck- Gilbert 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 builderAllison 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 parcel
<br />chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. "When built in the 1920s, the
<br />Floral Park homes were Me most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $44000 each" (Orange County
<br />Rai r 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 Tudar, 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 eady post-World War II years, Floral Park continued its development as
<br />numerous smaller, single- family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style.
<br />In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park.
<br />The Bemk- Gilbert House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion i for its
<br />exemplification of Me distinguishing characteristics of the Ranch style and its association with Calvin M. Gilbert, a founding
<br />member of the long time Santa Ana business, Gilbert and Steams Electric. Additionally, the house has been categorized as
<br />"Confributive" because it is a 'good example of period architecture' Character - defining exterior features of the Bemk- Gilbert
<br />House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, exterior materials, massing and exterior sheathing,
<br />original windows where extant chimney, and front porch configuration.
<br />812. References (continued):
<br />Hams, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York, WW Norton, 1998.
<br />Marsh, Diann. Santa Ana, An Illustrated History. Encinitas, Heritage Publishing, 1994.
<br />McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to Amedcan Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.
<br />National Register Bulletin 16A. "How to Complete the National Register Registration Form. "Washington DC: National
<br />Register Branch, National Park Service, US Dept of the Interior, 1991.
<br />Office of Historic Preservation. 'Instructions for Recording Historical Resources." Sacramento: March 1995.
<br />Pteasants, Mrs. J. E. History of Orman a County. California. volume 2. Los Angeles., J. R. Finnell & Sons, 1931, pp. 364 -365.
<br />Miffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
<br />Alison Honer Dies at 84,'1hg§Anta Ana Joumal September 21, 1981.
<br />"Builder of Honer Plaza Dies," Orange County Register. September 16, 1981.
<br />"History of Floral Park." h floral- paik.coMpaoe2.html.
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1937 -1978,
<br />DPR 523L gg q§ 4
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