To find the area of the actual wall, we can first determine the scale factor based on the shorter side of the wall.
The shorter side of the scale drawing measures 2.5 inches, while the actual shorter side measures 36 inches. The scale factor can be calculated as follows:
\[ \text{Scale factor} = \frac{\text{Actual shorter side}}{\text{Scale shorter side}} = \frac{36}{2.5} = 14.4 \]
Now, we can use the scale factor to find the dimensions of the actual wall. The longer side of the scale drawing is 4.75 inches. Thus, the actual longer side is:
\[ \text{Actual longer side} = 4.75 \times 14.4 \]
Calculating this:
\[ \text{Actual longer side} = 4.75 \times 14.4 = 68.4 \text{ inches} \]
Now, we can find the area of the actual wall using the dimensions we have:
\[ \text{Area} = \text{Actual length} \times \text{Actual width} \]
\[ \text{Area} = 36 \text{ inches} \times 68.4 \text{ inches} = 2462.4 \text{ square inches} \]
Thus, the area of the actual wall is:
\[ \boxed{2462.4} \]