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State of California —The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI If
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />Page 3 of 4 Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Rosenmeyer House
<br />*Recorded by H. Soboleske *Date July 23, 2015 O Continuation ❑ Update
<br />DPR 5238 (1195) *Required information
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<br />Santa Aria was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative town site on pen 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 Rosenmeyer 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 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 (Talbott, pages 353.356). "Before nightfall on the day of his arrival, Mr. Honor purchased a parcel of land
<br />And that month, he began building custom homes in Santa Ana" (Orancde Countv 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" (Grange County
<br />Register, 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 World War 11, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza, Honer lived in the
<br />neighborhood he had helped create, at 615 West Santa Clare Avenue.
<br />In the late 1920s and 1930s, another builder, Roy Roscoe Russell (1881- 1966), 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 it years, Floral Park continuer/ 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 Rosonmeyer House qualities for listing In the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 3 because it
<br />possesses the characteristics of the Craftsman Bungalow style. Additionally, the house has been categorized as
<br />"Contributive" because it "Is a good example of period archttecture'l Character - defining exterior features of the Rosenmeyer
<br />House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and flnishes (wood siding and trim); original
<br />windows where extant, bargeboards, massing and wrap around porch.
<br />DPR 523L
<br />(This space reserved for official comments.)
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