Preservationists Ask City to Help Save Historic Howe-Waffle House

A dozen history buffs have appealed to the City Council, asking them to help save a 106-year-old downtown home.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors is proposing to sell the parcel of land on which the Howe-Waffle House sits, jeopardizing the building named for one of Orange County’s first female doctors.

The house, owned by Santa Ana, serves as the headquarters for the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society.

Members of the Historical Preservation Society and other groups asked the council at its meeting Tuesday to help preserve the structure.

“We are asking to continue to be able to stay,” said Diann Marsh, the city’s unofficial historian.

“We are asking the city to act as a pass-through for us to the county. We think that you can get a better deal than we could. We think you also are much more versed in working with other agencies,” Marsh explained.

Acting as a pass-through, Marsh said, would mean negotiating on behalf of the Howe-Waffle House.

One option for the city, Marsh said, would be to buy the land from the county and sell it back to the Historical Preservation Society.

The council did not take action because the issue arose during the public comment segment of the meeting and was not on the agenda.

Councilwoman Lisa Mills asked that the issue be on the agenda for the next regular meeting, Feb. 5, and expressed an interest in preserving the Victorian home.

“We only have one Howe-Waffle House,” she said. “To destroy a house like this doesn’t make any sense.”