Cliff May | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1906 San Diego, California |
| Died | 1989 Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | California Ranch-style modern house |
Cliff May (1903–1989)[1] was a building designer (he was not licensed as anarchitect until the last year of his life) practicing inCalifornia best known and remembered for developing the suburbanPost-war "dream home" (California Ranch House), and theMid-century Modern
May builtMonterey-style furniture as a young man. As a residential/building designer, May designed projects throughoutSouthern California, including the regions aroundLos Angeles,San Diego, andSanta Barbara, California. He is credited with creating the pitched-roof, low-slung CaliforniaRanch-style house in 1932.[1] He had very little training as an architect. May never formally registered for an architectural license, but obtained one in 1988, one year before his death, when California's governor granted licenses to all registered designers in the state.[2]
During his career, May designed over a thousand custom residences; numerous commercial structures; and from model house prototypes, more than eighteen thousandtract houses had his imprint.[1] May synthesizedSpanish Colonial Revival architecture with abstractedCalifornia adobe ranchos andModern architecture.[3]Robert Mondavi chose May to design his winery in which he incorporated features found in construction ofCalifornia Missions.[4]
In 1932, May's first house sold for $9,500. His work drew attention and the second home he built was featured inArchitectural Digest in 1934. He continued to build 50 additional houses in San Diego before moving to Los Angeles in 1935. Many of his 1,000+ houses were built in Southern California, however some were built as far away as Switzerland, Australia and Ireland.[5] During the 1940s and 50s, his work was featured in many publications including Architectural Forum, American Home, California arts and Architecture, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Sunset Magazine, Modernism Magazine, Southern California Quarterly, among others.[2]
During the 1950s, May, along with colleague Chris Choate, designed prefabricated tract ranch homes which they sold to builders across the US. Many of these prefab tracts likeRancho Estates inLong Beach were popular and resulted in many homes in the tracts being built and sold. Some, particularity those outside of California, were unprofitable and only resulted in the model homes being built. The partnership between May and Choate ended in 1956 with May's departure.
May said of his architecture, "The ranch house was everything a California house should be -it had cross-ventilation, the floor was level with the ground, and with its courtyard and the exterior corridor, it was about sunshine and informal outdoor living."[5]
The HGTV television showFlip or Flop featured remodels of two Cliff May homes.
Selected works include:[6][7][8]
May grew up inSan Diego, California. On his mother's side he is related toJose Antonio Estudillo, one of the founders of San Diego. His father's side of the family held a lifetime lease on the old Los FloresRancho inSan Diego County.[1] May lived in his 10,000 square foot "ultimate ranch house" located on a 15-acre site in one of the canyons in theSanta Monica Mountains near Brentwood. May was a record collector and amateur saxophone player and piano player; his home had a sound system that piped-in music to every indoor and outdoor space.[5]
May was also a pilot; he made many trips in his plane to Mexico during his lifetime.[5]
May died in 1989 at the age of 83, at his estate "Mandalay" in Sullivan Canyon in the Brentwood neighborhood ofLos Angeles, California.[citation needed]
In 2012, the UC Santa BarbaraArt, Design & Architecture Museum and the organization Pacific Standard Time mounted a retrospective exhibition,Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch, 1920-1960.[1] Several books have been published about his work, including the 2008 Rizzoli publication,Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House.[2]
An archive of Cliff May's papers, c. 1931–1989, consisting of 350 linear feet of papers, correspondence, clippings, photographs and ephermera is held in the Architecture and Design Collection of the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at theUniversity Santa Barbara.[8]
