Preserve Orange County has been actively following a development project that in fall 2020 proposed relocation of the 1928 Christiensen and Grow gas station from its original site at 305 S. Main Street in Orange. Given the station’s location on the Old State Highway, once designated as the historic El Camino Real, POC took a deeper dive on the surviving roadside architecture along this historic route. The article that follows is the culmination of a windshield survey. We hope it will lead to further study. Read more.

Grass-roots groups in Newport Beach such as the Balboa Island Preservation Association and the Coalition to Protect Mariners’ Mile are protesting insensitive development of their neighborhoods and making some progress. The Corona del Mar Historical Society was founded with the same concerns in mind but with a different approach. In 2020 members began a process of identifying the remaining historic cottages of the beachside community.

Every city does preservation a little differently. Tustin disbanded its historic resources commission several years ago yet it is conducting a historic resources survey right now that will identify resources constructed up to 1976. This effort alone places it in the vanguard of Orange County cities. Read more.

Surveys are the backbone of a strong preservation program, yet most Orange County cities have not adequately taken stock of their building and landscape heritage. Here’s a brief description of surveys, their benefits and what’s going on in Orange County.

Façodomy is what it’s called when only the exterior walls of a historic building are retained in a rehabilitation project. But when other options fail, the exterior should be saved.