national register nomination for boulevard park historic

southern end of the district. Examples in the district include Colonial Revival, Neoclassic, Craftmsan,
Prairie and Spanish Colonial Revival styles, and many combine features several styles.
Neoclassic Row House
Within the context of California residential architecture of this era, the term “row house” is often used to
describe free-standing buildings constructed on narrow lots in rows set a few feet apart, as opposed to
attached row houses as found in the eastern United States. California row houses are typically of wooden
construction, rather than brick or stone. Neoclassic row houses are architecturally similar to the Foursquare
but smaller and shorter, originally constructed as one-story buildings, typically on a raised foundation of
brick or concrete. In most cases, the main floor is located 3-7 feet from the ground, and within the city of
Sacramento, many residents and planners use the term “high-water bungalow” or “Delta bungalow” to refer
to this building type. This is based on the assumption that the high floor was intended to keep the house
above flood level. However, similar buildings are found elsewhere in northern California in regions that are
not flood-prone, suggesting that the elevation is intended for ventilation, basement storage or architectural
prominence rather than flood safety. Most examples in the district have a hipped roof with a dormer. Siding
is typically false-bevel drop siding, shiplap siding or shingles. Most feature a front-facing partial-width
porch with stairs projecting to the front of the lot, supported by columns (most commonly cylindrical Doric
columns), with an adjacent bay window, but some have a full-width porch. Most have a second bay
window located on a side elevation. Some have been raised to create a second story, or modified to
accommodate a basement apartment or garage. Neoclassic row houses were built in the district from 1905
until about 1920.
Minimal Traditional Cottage
Many of the houses built in the district from the mid-1930s to 1946 are Minimal Traditional cottages. Most
have a cross-gabled plan, but some are rectangular with a hipped roof. Exterior walls are typically stucco
with some simple drop or false bevel drop siding. Many show limited elements of Tudor Revival style with
prominent chimneys and a steep roof pitch, or Spanish Colonial Revival style with stucco siding and
limited use of clay tile as a decorative element. These simple, economical buildings are characteristic of the
northern end of the neighborhood, where lots were less expensive, and typical of house plans available to
working people in the 1930s to 1940s. Their architectural simplicty reflects the architectural idiom of the
era and a response to the demand for inexpensive workforce housing that still provided a pastoral, suburban
setting in a detatched dwelling. Many were standard designs promoted by pattern books, and later by
Federal Housing Administration guidelines that required minimum standards for small houses that could be
funded with FHA-backed loans.
Spanish Colonial Revival
A small number of buildings in the district are constructed in Spanish Colonial Revival style. They feature
low-pitched roofs, usually with little or no eave overhang, roofs typically of red clay tile, wall surfaces
typically of stucco, and typically with one or more prominent arches placed above the door or principal
window, or beneath the porch roof. These buildings reflect regional interest in the Spanish and Mexican
heritage of the western United States, and were promoted during the 1920s as a more appropriate revival
style for California than American Colonial Revival models. Boulevard Park was mostly built out during
the height of this style’s popularity, and construction dates of examples within the district reflect this,
ranging from 1922 to circa 1930.
Tudor Revival
Tudor Revival residences typically feature a steeply pitched roof, usually side-gabled with a prominent
cross gable, decorative half-timbering or stucco walls, massive chimneys and tall, narrow windows. Several
high-style Tudor Revival buildings were constructed in Boulevard Park, as the style was popular
throughout the era of the neighborhood’s construction. Others are hybrids with other styles and housing
forms, including Craftsman bungalows with Tudor features and Minimal Traditional houses with Tudor
elements.
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