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CONSTRUCTION HISTORY: (Construction data, alterations, and date of alterations)
<br />Alteration and Repair to Dwelling
<br />Rebuild fireplace Chimney
<br />Reroof
<br />Reroof
<br />Wrought Iron fence
<br />Reroof House and Garage
<br />November 6, 1919
<br />April 20, 1933
<br />November 9, 1936
<br />May 27, 1983
<br />May I, 1989
<br />August 3, 1989
<br />RELATED FEATURES: (Other important features such as barns, sheds, fences, prominent or unusual trees, or landscape)
<br />Original garage at rear of property
<br />DESCRIPTION: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, settings, and
<br />boundaries.)
<br />The Keech -Klan house is a rectangular, 2 -story structure capped with a hip roof and a fill width, single story front porch. The main
<br />roof has wide enclosed eaves with closely spaced carved brackets. A front facing hipped roof dormer with wide enclosed eaves is
<br />centered on the roof. The dormer is decorated with carved brackets, molding- trimmed panels and a balcony with a plain baluster.
<br />Gabled dormers with tight barges are centered on the west and east sides of the roof. Each has a pair of arched double -hung windows.
<br />A centered square bay, with a trio window composition made of a horizontal window with a cast plaster ornament below, and flanked
<br />by a double -hung window on each side, is the centerpiece for the second floor, front fapade. Double hung windows are used
<br />throughout the rest of the second floor. A bellcast, hipped roof tops [lie full 'first floor porch. Two pains and two trios (at the corners)
<br />of round wooden columns, edged in molding and supported on clapboard -clad piers, support the porch roof. A balustrade with
<br />closely- spaced balusters runs between the piers. The centered front door is accented with a large window, decorative panels, and
<br />multi -paned sidelights. A slanted bay window, accented with a plate glass window, leaded glass transom, and double -hung windows
<br />is located on the east side of the front door, while a plate glass window with leaded glass transom is located on the west side. A
<br />square bay with bellcast roof, centered half way between the stories on the west side of the house indicates the location of the interior
<br />stairway. Screened porches occupy the rear northwest and northeast corners. The defining features that make this building a Colonial
<br />Revival include its rectangular plan and symmetrical fapade. Other defining features include the hipped roof with hipped and gabled
<br />dormers; the wide, enclosed eaves with closely spaced brackets, the full -width front porch and bellcast roof; the centered front door
<br />with sidelights; the rectangular, double hung sash windows; and the use of bay windows. Other elements, such as the second floor trio
<br />window composition with cast plaster ornament on the front fapade, the paired columns at the porch, and the hip roof front dormer
<br />with a balcony are Classical Revival features.
<br />HISTORIC HIGHLIGHTS:
<br />Architect G. S. Garrett designed this house for the first owners, Eugene Erwin and Amelia Keech in 1899. Mr. Keech was one of the
<br />best -known water rights attorneys in California and was serving as president of the Change County Bar Association at the time of his
<br />death in a car /train accident on March 30, 1917. Having a particular expertise in water rights, he was legal advisor for the Santa Ana
<br />Valley Irrigation Company for over 25 years and for the Anaheim Union Water Company. lie was among the leaders in tine
<br />movements for political reform in California and took an active part in local politics. Arriving in Santa Ana in 1887, he worked as a
<br />surveyor and City engineer before being admitted to the California Bar Association in 1888. Mr. Keech was author for the State law
<br />under which river protection districts were formed. Additionally, murder- mystery author Earl Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason series
<br />and others) is said to have visited the house and to have consulted with Mr. Keech while researching his books.
<br />Carl J. and Lena A. Klatt bought this house for their large family in 1920. The Klatt's arrived in Santa Ana in 1909 and purchased an
<br />orange grove on 17`s Street, near Tustin Avenue. He served as director of Tustin Hills Cihvs Association for more than 50 years.
<br />Prominent citizens in the city, they belonged to several civic organizations such as the Elks, Rotary Club of Santa Ana, Santa Ana
<br />Council and Knights of Columbus. Mi. Klatt was insttmnental in establishing the St. Joseph Parish School in Santa Ana and St.
<br />Joseph Hospital in Orange.
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