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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 4
<br />*Recorded by Hally Soboleske
<br />DPR 523B (1195)
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<br />Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Liggett House
<br />*Date August 18, 2009 ® Continuation ❑ Update
<br />*Required information
<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 dty 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 Liggett House is located in Floral Paris, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West
<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" ( Orenge County Resister. September 15, 1981). The parcel
<br />chosen became the Floral Paris 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 />Resister. September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and
<br />1930s; Floral Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival
<br />styles. The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco-styled Old
<br />Santa Ana City Hall, the El Toro Marine Base during Word War /l, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the
<br />neighborhood he had helped create, at 615 West 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 at 2009 Victoria Drive. In the early post -World War Il 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
<br />its identity as the premier neighborhood of Santa Ana, historically home to many affluent and prominent citizens.
<br />The Liggett House lies in the northern section of Floral Park historically known as North Broadway Park. Bounded by
<br />Riverside Drive, Santa Clara Avenue, North Broadway, and North Flower Street, North Broadway Park, subdivided in 1923,
<br />has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Keeper of the National Register found
<br />that "North Broadway Park reflects the City Beautiful planning movement in Southern California during the early twentieth
<br />century. The vernacular adaptations of period revival styles, curvilinear street pattems, street furniture, and landscape
<br />combine to create a cohesive and pleasant middle class suburban neighborhood environment which is unique in the early
<br />historical development of the city of Santa Ana."' Under the regulations implementing the California Register of Historical
<br />Resources, the Liggett House, has been listed in the California Register.
<br />The Liggett House also qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 for its
<br />exemplification of the distinguishing characteristics of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Typical features illustrated by the
<br />house include its asymmetrical composition; stucco cladding with flat roof and terracotta barrel file roofing material.
<br />Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Contributive" because it contributes to the overall character and history" of
<br />Santa Ana, and, as an intact example of the transitional period in the mid to late 1930s in the Floral Park neighborhood, "is a
<br />good example of period architecture. " Character - defining exterior features of the Liggett House that should be preserved
<br />include, but may not be limited to, materials and
<br />finishes (stucco and wood); roof configuration and
<br />detailing, original windows and doors where extant,
<br />exterior staircase; architectural details such as
<br />balconets.
<br />1 Determination of Eligibility, February 25, 1980.
<br />DPR 523L Page 4 of 5
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