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2214 N Heliotrope Santa Ana, Ca 92706 <br />December 1953: Permits pulled for the home by Don B Christenson – contractor for Hugo J. Lamb (1888-1963) <br />1954: Occupied by Carl H. Benning (1882-1965) <br />1957: Ann Kathleen Haster (1892-1973) – Widowed as of 1945, wife of Thomas Haster / Haster Street <br />1972: John G. Dempsey <br />1996: Robert E. Wilde (1918-2017) <br />The one story Ranch style residence at 2214 N Heliotrope Drive is largely unchanged on its primary, front and is <br />superlative in its architectural design in this style. The home was built in late 1953 by Hugo Lamb, a local rancher, <br />and had a series of elderly owners. Carl H Benning, a retiree. Ann K. Haster, a retired widower and late wife to <br />Thomas Haster, citrus rancher and for whom a street is now named in Anaheim. All of these owners were born in <br />the late 19th century and spent their final years in this home. After the passing of Mrs. Haster in the early 1970s the <br />home was sold to a John G. Dempsey who lived in the home until it was sold to Robert E. Wilde; citrus rancher <br />turned land developer and auto dealer. Mr. Wilde would live in the home until his passing in 2017. <br />Home Design/Architecture: <br />The Ranch style originated in southern California in the mid-1930s. In the 1940s, the Ranch was one of the small <br />house types financed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), along with Minimal Traditional and other small <br />house styles. The Ranch house began to pick up popularity as the financial controls that encouraged small house <br />building lifted following WWII; by the 1950s it was the most predominant residential style in the country. <br />This popularity is the result of a number of factors. Firstly, the growing automobile culture of the 1950s allowed for <br />the development of suburbs that required new, cheap, and fast construction and where larger lots could <br />accommodate a larger, family-sized houses. The Ranch house’s long and low form, expandable ‘rambling’ floor <br />plan, simple detailing, and modern materials made it an excellent answer for these needs. Secondly, the style <br />served as a bridge between the traditional styles of the past and the drastically different modern styles that began <br />to become popular during this period, such as the International and Contemporary styles. The Ranch style allowed <br />for modern construction methods, aesthetics, and a more open floor plan — as well as modern living features like <br />open kitchens and attached car ports and garages — without requiring homeowners to commit to a dramatic <br />roofline or glass walls. Furthermore, the simplicity of the Ranch allowed for the application of more traditional, <br />styled elements such as columns or moldings. In fact, the ability to design from scratch, which was afforded both <br />by the availability of empty suburban lots and the adaptability of the style itself, created a sub-category of Custom <br />Ranch houses. These were designed individually and often by architects, rather than in planned subdivisions <br />designed and built by developers. <br />Ranch houses still exist in the hundreds of thousands today throughout the country. Historic significance can still <br />be present on the individual level if the Ranch has been essentially unaltered. On a larger level, the style is <br />particularly eligible for significance in the context of historic districts, since original subdivisions still survive with <br />sufficient integrity to convey the importance of city planning and suburban development in post-war America. <br />The distinguishing features of ranch style homes and ranch style house plans include the following: <br />•Single story <br />•Long, low-pitch roofline <br />•Asymmetrical rectangular, L-shaped, or U-shaped design and arrangements <br />Distributed & posted 1/21/2020