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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 6_ Resource Name: Hector Godinez House
<br />*Recorded by James Williams *Date April 29, 2025 Continuation
<br />DPR 523L
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<br />*P3a. Description (continued):
<br />Accessed through a gate and rough stucco-clad walls, the east elevation features wood-frame horizontal sliding wood sash
<br />windows and vinyl-frame horizontal sliding sash windows (Figures 4 and 5). Additionally, a set of wood-frame French doors
<br />sit at the center of the east elevation adjacent to decorative metal sconces. A concrete path runs down the side of the east
<br />elevation towards the backyard which features a swimming pool, pool house, and a trellis shade structure. The north elevation
<br />accesses the backyard through four entrances: one entrance at the eastern end has a single, glazed wood-frame door and
<br />three of the entrances are wood-frame French doors with sidelites (Figures 6 and 7). The entrances sit on either side of a large
<br />exterior brick chimney and vinyl-frame horizontal sliding sash windows (Figure 8). Another set of wood-frame French doors
<br />and a single wood-frame door are located on the west façade facing a concrete path leading to the backyard.
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<br />At the rear of the property adjacent to the swimming pool is a pool house structure sitting on a brick foundation and capped
<br />with a front-gabled roof clad in barrel tile cladding (Figures 9 and 10). The wood frame structure of the roof is exposed atop
<br />stucco and brick clad walls which are open to the pool with a couch. Landscaping on the property consists of a lawn north and
<br />south of the residence, palms and ornamental plants, and a mature trees at the back yard. Four large brick-clad columns line
<br />the front yard along the sidewalk and West Santa Clara Avenue.
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<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<br />
<br />Alongside his work as a postmaster, Mr. Godinez was a founder of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
<br />Santa Ana chapter and worked to desegregate Orange County public schools. Santa Ana LULAC was dedicated to addressing
<br />improvement of conditions for Mexican Americans and responsible for Mendez v. Orange County Board of Education in 1947.
<br />This lawsuit fought to desegregate Orange County schools and was influential as the basis for Brown v. Board of Education at
<br />the national level. He served as national president of the LULAC from 1960 to 1961 (United States Congressional Hearing
<br />2002).
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<br />After working tirelessly for the United States Postal Service, Mr. Godinez was appointed District Manager of Los Angeles and
<br />Orange Counties in 1975 and again as the regional director of sequoia district office (which managed all mail from the coastal
<br />regions to the Mojave in southern California) in 1977 (Los Angeles Times 1975, 1977). He served on several commissions and
<br />boards while occupying the subject property including the city redevelopment commission in 1976, served as president of the
<br />Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce and Trustee of Rancho Santiago Community College District in 1976, and the Santa Ana
<br />Healthcare Authority in 1979 along with service in education, support for veterans, and unionizing the Santa Ana branch of
<br />postal workers (The Register 1976a, 1976b; Los Angeles Times 1979). He was the first Hispanic to be named the president of
<br />the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce and a founding member of the Santa Ana Redevelopment Board (United States
<br />Congressional Hearing 2002). Additionally, Mr. Godinez was the recipient of the NAACP’s Human Rights Award and the
<br />Western Region’s Community Service Award, and he was among the first recipients of the Postmaster General’s Award for
<br />Executive Achievement. He was distinguished by the National Association of Postmasters, the National League of Postmasters,
<br />and the National Association of Postal Supervisors (United States Congressional Hearing 2002). In 1999, Mr. Godinez passed
<br />away, and the house sold in 2001 (ParcelQuest 2025). The current owners and residents are Tom Chappell and Elvia Orrillo
<br />Blas.
<br />
<br />The Hector Godinez House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West
<br />Seventeenth Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of orange, avocado, and walnut trees and
<br />widely scattered ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897-1981), credited
<br />as the subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls, New York in
<br />1922 (Talbert, pages 353-356). “Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honer purchased a parcel of land. And that month,
<br />he began building custom homes in Santa Ana” (Orange County Register 1981). The parcel chosen became the Floral Park
<br />subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. “When built in the 1920s, the Floral Park homes were the most
<br />lavish and expensive in the area. They sold for about $45,000 each” (Orange County Register 1981). Revival architecture in a
<br />wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s and Floral Park showcased examples of the English
<br />Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival. The Allison Honer Construction Company went on to complete
<br />such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco styled Old Santa Ana City Hall, the El Toro Marine Base during World War II, and
<br />the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the neighborhood he had helped to create, at 615 West Santa Clara Avenue.
<br />
<br />In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965), continued developing the groves of Floral Park.
<br />An early Russell project was his 1928 subdivision of Victoria Drive between West Nineteenth Street and West Santa Clara
<br />Avenue. The homes were quite grand and displayed various revival styles, including Russell’s own large, Colonial Revival
<br />mansion at 2009 Victoria Drive. In 1937, Roy Rodney Russell, joined his father’s firm and by 1945 it was renamed as Roy
<br />Russell and Son. In the early post World War II years, Floral Park continued its development as numerous, smaller, single-
<br />family houses were built. Continuing in the Floral Park tradition, they were mostly revival in style. In the 1950s, low, horizontal
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<br />City Council 13 – 179 11/4/2025
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