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HRCA No. 2017-39, HRC No. 2017-38 <br />HPPA No. 2017-43 <br />March 22, 2018 <br />Page 2 <br />property any building or part thereof, object, structure, or site having importance to the history or <br />architecture of the city in accordance with the criteria set forth in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana <br />Municipal Code (SAMC). This project entails applying the selection criteria established in <br />Chapter 30 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (Places of Historical and Architectural Significance) to <br />determine if this structure is eligible for historic designation to the Santa Ana Register of Historical <br />Properties. The first criterion for selection requires that the structures be 50 or more years old. <br />The structure identified meets the minimum selection criteria for inclusion on the Santa Ana Register <br />of Historical Properties pursuant to criteria contained in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana Municipal <br />Code as the property is 87 years old and is a good example of period architecture. The property <br />maintains a three foot seven inch (3'-7") wrought iron fence along the west property line (between <br />2468 and 2462 Riverside Drive). However, this existing fence has been "grandfathered" and <br />deemed legal -nonconforming. No known code violations exist on record for this property. <br />The property, recognized as the Jennie Lasby Tessmann House, is located within the Floral Park <br />neighborhood boundaries and has distinctive architectural features of the Tudor Revival style. The <br />residence was built in 1931 by E.C. Rogers, a prolific Santa Ana builder and developer. From the late <br />1930s through the following decade, Rogers was extremely active as a building contractor. According <br />to city directories, Rogers resided at the Jennie Lasby Tessmann House for only two years. Between <br />1933 and 1945, various renters were identified as having lived at the residence. However, the most <br />notable residents were John Heinrich Tessmann and Jennie Lasby Tessmann (1945). <br />Jennie Lasby Tessmann was a renowned researcher, astronomer and author, and was a dedicated <br />member of the Santa Ana College faculty for close to 30 years. She served on the Mount Wilson <br />Observatory staff in Los Angeles and was credited as the first woman to enter the observatory as a <br />researcher. She moved to Santa Ana to care for her parents and was subsequently hired by Santa Ana <br />College in 1919, where she taught astronomy until her retirement in 1946. <br />Character -defining features of the Jennie Lasby Tessmann House that should be preserved include, <br />but may not be limited to: materials and finishes; steeply pitched roofs; entry porch; asymmetrical <br />primary elevation; steppedbrick chimney; decorative half-timbering; picturesque windows; <br />rectangular -shaped, attic vents; and the detached, one-story, front -gabled garage (Historical <br />Property Description included in Exhibit 3). It is recommended that the house be designated to the <br />Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties and categorized as "Key" for its "distinctive architectural <br />style and quality," embodying the massing, materials, and detailing of Tudor Revival design; for its <br />"association with a significant period in the history of the city", namely the development of Floral <br />Park as the premier residential district of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Santa <br />Ana; and "association with a significant persons", E.C. Rogers and Jennie Lasby Tessmann. <br />Mills Act Agreement <br />Ordinance No. NS -2382 authorized the Historic Resources Commission to execute Historic Property <br />Preservation Agreements (HPPA), commonly known as Mills Act agreements for eligible properties <br />25A-64 <br />