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State of California—The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />Pane 3 of 3 Resource Name: 512 West Santa Clara Avenue
<br />*Recorded by Olivia White *Date September 14, 2017 0 Continuation ❑ Update
<br />DPR 5238 (1195) *Required information
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<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
<br />selection 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 />512 West Santa Clara Avenue is located in the Floral Park neighborhood. This neighborhood is northwest of downtown
<br />Santa Ana bounded by West Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges,
<br />avocados, and walnuts and widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder
<br />Allison Honer (1897-1981), credited as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in
<br />Santa Ana from Beaver Falls, New York in 1922 (Talbert, pages 353-356). "Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr.
<br />Honer purchased a parcel of land. And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana" (Orange County
<br />Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and
<br />Santiago Creek. "When built in the 1920s, the Floral Park homes were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold
<br />for about $45,000 each" (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic
<br />styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman,
<br />Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival.
<br />The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa
<br />Ana City Hall, the EI Toro Marine Base during World War 11, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the
<br />neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clara Avenue. In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy
<br />Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral Park. An early Russell project was his 1928
<br />subdivision of Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa Clara Avenue. The homes were quite grand
<br />and displayed various revival styles, including Russell's own large, Colonial Revival mansion at 2009 Victoria Drive. In the
<br />early post World War II years, Floral Park continued its development as numerous, smaller, single-family houses were built.
<br />Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style. In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses
<br />completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2003) Floral Park maintains its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa
<br />Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />512 West Santa Clara Avenue qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
<br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the English Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by
<br />the house include its asymmetrical plan; steeply pitched roof,' relatively restrained porch; moderately overhanging eaves;
<br />side gable; stucco walls. Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Key" because it is an intact example of an English
<br />Revival residence in the Floral Park neighborhood, and '9s a unique example of period architecture." Character -defining
<br />exterior features of 512 West Santa Clara Avenue that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to roof shape;
<br />original windows where extant; porch shape; entryway size and shape; exterior wall material.
<br />*B12. References (continued):
<br />Marsh, Diann. Santa Ana, An Illustrated History. Encinitas, Heritage Publishing, 1994.
<br />McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American 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 />Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
<br />Orange County Plat Maps, 1912.
<br />Historic Maps, Santa Ana History Room, 1923, 1932, 1955.
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1926-1961.
<br />Santa Ana History Room Collection, Santa Ana Public Library.
<br />Pleasants, J.E., Pleasants History of Orange County California, Biographical, Volume Ill, Los Angeles: J.R. Finnel & Sons
<br />Publishing Company, 1931.
<br />The Old Orange County Courthouse. 2001
<br />DPR 523L
<br />25C-48
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