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State of California —The Resources Agency Primary it
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />"Recorded by H. Soboleske
<br />*610. Significance (continued);
<br />or # (Assigned by recorder) Cope House
<br />*Date November 5, 2015 O Continuation ❑ Update
<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 Cope House is located in Floral Park, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Santa Ana bounded by West Seventeenth
<br />Street, North Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. Groves of oranges, avocados and walnuts, and widely scattered
<br />ranch houses characterized this area before 1920. Developer and builder Allison Honer (1897 - 1981), credited as the
<br />subdivider and builder of a major portion of northwest Santa Ana, arrived in Santa Ana from Beaver Falls, New York in 1922
<br />(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 September 15, 1981). The parcel chosen became
<br />the Floral Park subdivision between Seventeenth Street and Santiago Creek. "When built in the 1920s, the Floral Park
<br />homes were the most lavish and expensive In the area. They sold for about $45,000 each" (Oranggk_Qounty Realster,
<br />September 15, 1981). Revival architecture in a wide variety of romantic styles was celebrated in the 1920s and 1930s; Floral
<br />Park showcased examples of the English Tudor, French Norman, Spanish Colonial, and Colonial Revival styles. The Allison
<br />Honer Construction Company went on to complete such notable projects as the 1935 Art Deco - styled Old Santa Ana City
<br />Hall, the El Toro Marine Base during World War 11, and the 1960 Honer Shopping Plaza. Honer lived in the neighborhood he
<br />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 Russells own large, Colonial
<br />Revival mansion at 2.009 Victoria Drive. In the early post -World War it years, Floral Part< 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 Cope House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 3 because it possesses
<br />the characteristics of the Craftsman Bungalow style. Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Contributive" because
<br />it "is a good example of period architecture ". Character - defining exterior features of the Cope House that should be preserved
<br />include, but may not be limited to, materials and Cnishes (wood siding and trim); original windows where extant, attic venting,
<br />missing and front facing porch.
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<br />DPR 623L 25A -172
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