Laserfiche WebLink
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 # (Assioned by recorder) Schenck House <br />"Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howell-Ardila '`Date October 17, 2007 O Continuation ^ Update <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 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 frelds and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses. <br />The Schenck House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by Easf <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 Wesf Santa Clara Avenue. <br />In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, 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 1! 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 Schenck House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its <br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the Colonial Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by <br />the house include its horizontal wood siding; medium pitched, side-gabled roof with projecting front gable; elaborated entry <br />with side lights and recessed molded squares; portico with curved underside, entablature, and Tuscan columns; six-over-six <br />double-hung sash windows with wood frames and decorative shutters; Palladian-style window in gable apexes; and glazed <br />brick chimney. Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Contributive" because it `contributes to the overall character <br />and history" of Santa Ana, and, as an example of the Colonial Revival style `9s a good example of period architecture." <br />Character-defining exterior features of the Schenck House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, <br />materials and finishes (horizontal wood siding); roof materials, configuration, and detailing; original windows and doors where <br />extant; glazed brick chimney; architectural details such as the curved underside of the portico, Tuscan columns, entablature, <br />and frieze decorated with recessed molded squares. <br />"B12. References (continued): <br />Armor, Samuel. History of Orange Countv. Los Angeles: History Record Company, 1921, page 1005. <br />Franklin, Don. `7VW 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 />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 />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1930-1962. <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 County Register. September 15, 1981. <br />`History of Floral Park." http://www.floral-park.com/page2.html. <br />DPR 523E <br />Pagq~fr4 ~ ~~ <br />