Something Worth Saving : The County’s Prewar, Pre-Boom Homes Should Be Preserved

In the decades after World War II, Orange County grew enormously, with people pouring down the freeway from Los Angeles or driving in from out of state to start new jobs and raise families. Casualties of the population explosion were prewar houses, deemed too small for newcomers and too often labeled fit only for demolition. In their stead came apartment buildings.

But fashions change. As more and more of the older style houses vanished, residents of cities like Anaheim, Santa Ana and Fullerton started taking a closer look at the prewar buildings that remained. There came a realization that many were worth saving, even fighting to preserve. Demolish them and you remove history, depriving newcomers of a glimpse of the past and of something that could be much nicer to look at than the standard stucco three-story apartment.

Santa Ana’s French Park section north of downtown has many fine buildings remaining. But on streets and avenues like Birch and Chestnut, Spruce and Bush, not too far from French Park, the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s saw many fine old Craftsman-style bungalows and Tudor duplexes torn down in favor of the apartments.

That energized preservationists.

In affected cities, residents bothered by the disappearance of single-family dwellings wisely lobbied city councils for tougher zoning. In the historic College Park district of Fullerton, residents won “preservation” zoning. Multiunit buildings are not banned, but facades of older homes are preserved and new buildings must undergo extensive reviews before approval.

The elected officials and preservationists need to take care not to trample on property rights or bar affordable housing, which nearly always requires multiunit buildings. But residents are right to encourage an appreciation for the past, including the buildings that housed generations of Orange County residents before the boom.

Sensible limits on housing density makes it easier to provide the infrastructure, including parking, needed to serve residents. Maintaining prewar houses adds to the charm of neighborhoods in the county’s cities.