Newland House, Huntington Beach, California

The Pulse. The Newland House is located at 19820 Beach Blvd in Huntington Beach. It’s open to the public and you can see it on the 1st and 3rd Saturday and Sunday of each month. Admission is $1 to $2.

The Newland House is the restored home of Huntington Beach pioneers, Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Newland and is an 1898 Victorian farmhouse standing on high ground overlooking what was once known as the Santa Ana Gap, a marshy lowland between Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa. William and Mary Newland built the house and lived in it for over fifty years.

Midwesterners like the Newlands, who were from Illinois, were attracted to California during the “Boom of the Eighties” when Los Angeles experienced phenomenal growth. Increased opportunities for farming as huge ranchos were subdivided, reduced railroad fares because of a rivalry between Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads and an intensive publicity campaign by Real Estate developers were contributing actors for the migrations.

The Newlands were community leaders. They bought stock in the West Coast Land and Water Company which platted and sold the first lots in Pacific City, the town that became Huntington Beach in 1903. William held stock and served on the board of directors of Security Pacific Bank, the Huntington Beach News and several industrial businesses. In 1906, he established the Huntington Beach Canning Company and was instrumental in securing the Pacific Electric Railway route directly from Huntington Beach to Santa Ana. Later he served on the Highway Commission when Pacific Coast Highway was extended from Long Beach to Dana Point.

The Newland House was described in 1899 as a modern nine-room, two-story cottage. It is believed to be the only example of Queen Anne Victorian architecture remaining in Huntington Beach. Santa Ana contractors, Dawes and Kuechel were asked to integrate features and style reflecting the owners’ Midwestern background into the house they built in 1898. The Huntington Beach Historical Society restored it and obtained classification as a designated Orange County Historic Site. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 24, 1985.

The Newland ranch on which the house sat had a vegetable garden, berry bushes, an orchard, cows, chickens, turkeys, goats and peacocks in the yard plus a working stock of mules and horses. Outbuildings included stables, barns, corrals and bunk houses for the ranch hands who numbered up to 50 during peak season. Water came from an artesian well and kerosene and wood were used for light and fuel for cooking before electricity was available.