Santora Building

The Santora is a historic commercial building located in Downtown Historic District of Santa Ana, California. It now houses art galleries, retail stores, and restaurants.

Santora Arts Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	207 N. Broadway Santa Ana, California
Coordinates	33°44′47″N 117°52′8″W
Architect	Frank Lansdowne
Architectural style	California Churrigueresque (Spanish Colonial Revival)
NRHP reference No.	82000976
Added to NRHP	December 27, 1982

Architecture

The building was designed by Frank Lansdowne, one of the premier architects of the region, and groundbreaking on it took place on July 7, 1928.^[1] It is in the California Churrigueresque style of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.

The Santora is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and its record number is 386426.^[2]

History

From 1934 until 1944, Daninger's Tea Room occupied the rooms on the second floor, southwest corner. The restaurant was famous for its home cooked meals and pleasant atmosphere, and attracted a clientele that included Hollywood celebrities Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Billie Burke, Charles Ruggles, Connie Haines, Lucille Ball, Gracie Allen, George Burns, Joan Davis, Rosalind Russell, Robert Young, William Holden and Alan Ladd, all of whom signed the guest book.^[3]

After a period of decline in Santa Ana's downtown the Santora resurged as an arts complex where a number of different artists moved in including Joseph Musil and his Salon of the Art Deco Theaters. Musil was a set designer for the Walt Disney company and worked on the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.^[4]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, California