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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 or # (Assigned by recorder) Wells-Robbins House
<br />"Recorded by Leslie J. Neumann and Deborah Howell-Ardila '`Date October 8, 2007 ~ Continuation ^ Update
<br />*610. 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 />The Wells-Robbins House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by East
<br />Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados, and walnuts and
<br />widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897-1981),
<br />credited as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls,
<br />New York in 1922 (Talbert, pages 353-356). `Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land.
<br />And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana" (Orange County Register, September 15, 1981). The parcel
<br />chosen became the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. "When built in the 1920s, the
<br />Floral Park homes were the most lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each" (Orange County
<br />Register, September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and
<br />1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, 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 ll, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the
<br />neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clara Avenue.
<br />!n the late 1920s and 1930s, anotherbuilder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral
<br />Park. An early Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa
<br />Clara Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell's own large, Colonial
<br />Revival mansion of 2009 Victoria Drive. In the early post World War ll years, Floral Park continued its development as
<br />numerous, smaller, single-family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style.
<br />In the 1950s, low, horizontal Ranch Style houses completed the growth of Floral Park. Today (2007) Floral Park maintains its
<br />identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />The Wells-Robbins House qualities for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
<br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the Craftsman Bungalow style. Typical features of this style illustrated
<br />by the house include ifs horizontal wood cladding; low-pitched, cross-gabled roof with open, wide overhanging eaves and
<br />exposed rafter tails; patterned gable venting; tripartite window configuration and distinctive muntin pattern; asymmetrical
<br />composition; wrap-around patio and narrow post porch supports. Additionally, the house has been categorized as
<br />"Contributive" because it `contributes to the overall character and history" of Santa Ana, and, as an example of the Craftsman
<br />Bungalow style "is a good example of period architecture." Character-defining exterior features of the Wells-Robbins House
<br />that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and finishes (wood cladding); asymmetrical treatment
<br />of elements on the facade; roof configuration and detailing; original windows and doors where extant; chimney clad in wood
<br />siding; architectural details such as the muntin patterns visible on the facade.
<br />'`B12. References (continued):
<br />Armor, Samuel. History of Orange Countv. Los Angeles: History Record Company, 1921.
<br />Chain of Title, 2128 N. Greenleaf Street. Available at the Planning Division, Santa Ana City Hall, Santa Ana, CA.
<br />Franklin, Don. `lVW Santa Ana History: Roy Russell & Son, Builders." Unsourced article from the Santa Ana History Room
<br />Historic House File, circa 1995.
<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York, WW Norton, 1998.
<br />Wells-Robbins, Louis, Irvine. Letter fo Thomas Smalley, 29 January 2001.
<br />Marsh, Diann. Santa Ana. An Illustrated Hisforv. 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 />Oftice of Historic Preservation. "Instructions for Recording Historical Resources." Sacramento: March 1995.
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1930-1962.
<br />Ward, Cynthia, Anaheim. "Wells-Robbins House Primary Record and Building, Structure and Object Record,"July 2007.
<br />Whitten, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
<br />`Alison Honer Dies at 84,"The Santa Ana Journal. September 21, 1981.
<br />`Builder of Honer Plaza Dies," Orange Countv Register. September 15, 1981.
<br />`History of Floral Park." htfp://www.floral-park.com/page2.html.
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