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This grand two-and-one-half story, 12-room Queen Anne-style Victorian house was built in 1889 by Alvin and Willella Howe, both prominent Orange County physicians. The mansion was moved in 1975 from a nearby location to save it from an urban renewal project. It was lovingly restored by the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society and is used as a house and medical museum. Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle was a pioneering woman physician and birthed over 1,000 "Waffle Babies." Her dedication to th community was self-evident. She died at 74 at the bedside of a patient she was helping.

Exhibits

The entire house is decorated to feel as if Doctor Willella had just left for a house call. The rooms are set with period furniture and linens. The medical home-office is set up as her original was - to show how Dr. Willella cared for her patients back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A new feature debuting at this open house includes a new "Santa Ana Room" showing historical artifacts of the Santa Ana Valley area. The carriage barn will also be open and feature an original Studebaker carriage from the turn of the 19th century.

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