Building on the Past : Anaheim Will Restore 10 Early 20th-Century Houses

On a vacant stretch of land, 10 tattered and broken houses built around the turn of the century are perched atop railroad ties, waiting for an architectural rebirth.

“We’re filling in an historic street,” said Sally Ann Horton, president of the Anaheim Historic Preservation Foundation Inc., which is the city’s partner on a unique restoration project. “When we get through, the homes will look great. They’re very cozy and warm. Not cookie-cutter designs like new homes.”

In an effort to preserve Anaheim’s history, old California Craftsman and bungalow homes and one Spanish Revival house--long ago abandoned and scheduled for demolition in various parts of Anaheim--have been brought to Atchison Street near City Hall to be restored.

The renovation is scheduled to begin in August and the houses should be ready for new owners 18 months later. Right now, however, it is hard to imagine that the wooden structures built around 1910 will ever be inhabited again. Roofs are rotten, wood panels are missing and windows are boarded up.

“They definitely need a lot of work,” Horton said.

When completely restored, each house will have new wood, paint, plumbing, air conditioning and electrical work. All of the houses will have at least three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage and kitchen nook. Some have large family porches. The frames will be classic, but the houses will be expanded and modernized. City officials say the homes will sell for about $210,000.

“In some ways we will bend many of the tenets that preservationists follow,” Robert Zur Schmiede, the city’s redevelopment manager, said about the upgrades to the houses. “But we have to bring them up to today’s standards.”

Horton said her foundation will restore the houses to their original conditions as much as possible. She intends to visit antique stores to look for authentic light fixtures, glass doorknobs and other furnishings that were used when most of the homes were built.

“I’ve gone as far as Oregon to get something for the houses,” Horton said.

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The Atchison Project, as it is known, is the second such restoration the city has embarked on, but it is the first to designate an entire street for all the construction. Ten other old houses were restored on various streets in Anaheim’s historic downtown district.

“These houses have a lot of character,” said Linda Mayer, who bought a house on Cypress Street during the city’s first restoration project. “I’ve always like older things. I have the beauty of an older home and the advantages of a modern one.

“I think Sally has had a wonderful vision in trying to preserve these old homes,” Mayer said.

Zur Schmiede said the city is subsidizing about $1.7 million of the project’s costs, including buying and clearing the land and moving the houses there.

“We have received some criticism, but we have other objectives” than making a profit, he said. Among the goals, he added, is to rejuvenate a part of the city that has been in decline over the past decade because of increasing crime and blight.

Atchison Street, which is listed on the national Register of Historic Places, is located in a downtown redevelopment district. It used to be a commercial district but has been rezoned as a residential one for the restoration project.

Besides the restoration, massive improvements have been made around the area to make it more attractive to potential homeowners.

Across the street from the homes is a new park equipped with swings, basketball courts and picnic benches. But like the homes, there is a historical feel to the park.

Old-fashioned street lamps costing $2,500 apiece have been installed along the block. Murals reflecting Anaheim’s old citrus industry have been painted on the park walls. A folksy-looking gazebo has been added to the center of the park.

Nearby, the old Union Pacific train station has been converted into a YMCA day-care center. Even a new condominium project was designed to reflect the early California Craftsman style.

“We’re working to keep a little flavor of what old-time Anaheim was all about,” Councilman Irv Pickler said. “I hope we never lose it. These homes can be really gorgeous.”