Historic Yorba Linda Main Street hardware store to become Brix on Main restaurant after 84 years

 

One of Yorba Linda's most historic commercial buildings – home to a hardware store under various ownerships for 84 years – will be remodeled into Brix on Main, a restaurant with indoor, two-level outdoor and patio dining areas. Opening is projected for January 2022.

The renovation on the building located at 4901 Main St. is considered an “adaptive re-use” for the structure built in 1927 and identified as of local historical significance, although the building isn't eligible for national or state historical registers.

The new outdoor dining spaces will be located on the premises of a recently demolished 1960s, 1,378-square-foot structure, which was attached to the main building and was the longtime location of Main Street Coins and Collectibles and Turn-Key Remodel.

Demolition of the addition to the south-facing wall of the former hardware store removes non-historic renovations “in favor of new improvements to the building that are more supportive of the historic architectural character of the original building,” Jim Sowers, a city building official, told the City Council last month.

The original 2,219-square-foot former hardware store space will expand an additional 700-square-feet on the first floor and 447-square-feet on an existing mezzanine to create a true second floor, Associate Planner Jaime Cerda reported to the Planning Commission in April.

Cerda said a new two-story freestanding outdoor covered patio with a 667-square-foot first floor and 989-square-foot second floor will be added to the south side, and a 1,200-square-foot uncovered patio area will extend south to the corner of Imperial Highway and Main Street.

The two-story patio and uncovered dining area is expected to become “a focal point of one of the most significant intersections in town,” according to Cerda's report to commissioners.

Planning Commissioners also approved permits allowing alcohol sales and participation in the city's parking in-lieu fee program, which will allow the restaurant to buy the 18 added required parking spaces by making payments to help maintain the nearby city-owned parking structure.

The 1927 structure was built by Ed Kaub and designated a historic site by the council in 1993. One of the longest hardware store owners (1953-1974) was David Anderson, who purchased the stock from Robert Parker and lived with his wife and two daughters above the store.

The last hardware store owners beginning in 1999 were Art and Becky Brown, who moved their stock to a Lemon Drive store in 2011 before closing in 2016. The building was vacant two years until Adania Cornejo opened a boutique featuring women's clothing in 2013.