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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 3 Resource Name: E A. Swanson House
<br />*Recorded by Leslie Heumann/Chattel, Inc. *Date October 26, 2017 ❑O Continuation ❑ Update
<br />*1310. 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 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 />Since the second half of the twentieth century, the neighborhood in which the E. A. Swanson House is located has been
<br />known as West Floral Park. Located northwest of the historic core of Santa Ana, this residential neighborhood is bounded by
<br />Santiago Creek on the north, West Seventeenth Street on the south, North Flower Street on the east and North Bristol Street
<br />on the west. Prior to World War 11, the area was agricultural, divided into a few large landholdings devoted primarily to the
<br />cultivation of oranges, walnuts, and apricots. Traces of this early era remain in the form of two original farmhouses (1911
<br />Westwood Street and 2402 North Flower Street) and in a few large parcels along Flower Street. During the 1920s and 1930s
<br />a handful of houses were erected on Baker, Bristol, and Flower Streets, and two municipal facilities, the City Water Works
<br />pumping plant and the City/County Animal Shelter, were built at 2315 and 2321 North Bristol Street.
<br />West Floral Park acquired its current identity as a neighborhood of expansive, California Ranch Style houses in the years
<br />following 1947. Development started slowly, with around two dozen homes being built on Baker, Olive, Towner, and
<br />Westwood Streets between 1947 and 1950. Construction boomed during the 1950s and 1960s. West Twentieth Street
<br />began to be developed circa 1956-1962, according to listings in the city directories at the time. One builder in particular has
<br />come to be associated with West Floral Park: Roy Rodney Russell. The son of Roy Roscoe Russell, who developed much
<br />of Victoria Avenue in Floral Park, Roy Rodney Russell formed a partnership with his father, called Roy Russell and Son,
<br />Builders, in 1945. They began building homes on speculation, usually around fifteen or twenty each year. Following the
<br />death of his father in 1965, Roy Rodney Russell continued to build, mostly custom homes and many of them in West Floral
<br />Park. He retired in 1993.
<br />The E. A. Swanson House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
<br />representation of the distinguishing characteristics of the Ranch Style. Of particular interest in this regard are the horizontal
<br />orientation of the design, massing under a side -gabled roof, combination of wood and brick on the exterior walls, off -center
<br />entry sheltered by the main roof, large front picture window, and detailing suggestive of the Colonial Revival style.
<br />Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Contributive" because it contributes to the overall character and history" of
<br />West Floral Park and "is a good example of period architecture" as an intact example of the Ranch Style. Character defining
<br />features of the E. A. Swanson House include: one -and -a -half story height; asymmetrical fagade; side -gabled roof (including
<br />configuration, intersecting front gables, detailing such as exposed rafters; exterior materials (wood and brick); entry porch
<br />(configuration, materials, front door, details such as turned wood column); and fenestration (horizontal, multi -light, metal -
<br />framed windows); shed -roof canopies over side entry and window; and front walkway, including brick stairs to porch.
<br />*1312. References (continued):
<br />Harris, 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 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 />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1905-2017.
<br />Ancestry.com
<br />Newspapers.com (Santa Ana Register)
<br />Historic Maps, Santa Ana History Room, 1912, 1923, 1932, and 1955.
<br />DPR 523L
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