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On the centennial of his birth, Cliff May, the father of
the California Ranch House, is finally getting his due. Thanks to Daniel P.
Gregory’s superb book “Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House,” the talent of
this prolific Los Angeles-based architect is finally being recognized. Born in
1908 in San Diego, California, Cliff May was a regionalist architect who used
Spanish/Mexican residential architecture as a point of departure. As much as
the Los Angeles architectural community raves about their architectural history
(they should-it’s quite impressive), Cliff May seems never to get mentioned.
Maybe it’s because of those wagon wheels out front of his houses. The irony is
that those now who beat the drum for LA modern architecture seem to want to live
in a Cliff May House.
It’s hard to imagine an architect whose work affects more
Westerners on a daily basis than Cliff May —the kind of influence that Los
Angeles’ better known architects (and May's contemporaries) like Richard Neutra,
Pierre Koenig, and Charles Eames could only experience in their wildest
dreams. We either have owned a ranch style house ourselves, or had friends who
lived in one--these houses are found everywhere--they all are indebted to Cliff
May to some degree.
In his book, Mr. Gregory points out that this local neglect
of Cliff May probably has to do with the man himself as much as it has to do
with the LA architectural community. May advanced his practice via home
magazines, trade magazines, and relationships with builders and developers, and
not through architectural magazines or the local AIA. He was a self-trained
architect with no formal training and wasn’t licensed as an architect until he
was in his late 70’s—his architecture license was “grandfathered” in the late
1980’s-so he couldn’t join the AIA. Maybe he had no interest to join. Whatever
the reason, the bottom line was Cliff May probably didn’t have the “street cred”
among his peers that other successful well-known architects enjoyed. I'm sure
May's business success was recognized, perhaps envied, but his abilities as an
architect were not. He was viewed as a "hack" building designer by many, a step
or two below that of an architect.
The same disregard occurs with architectural historians and
critics. A quick check of Reyner Banham’s 1971 seminal book “Los
Angeles, the Architecture of Four Ecologies”, reveals no mention of
Cliff May. Banham's main premise about Los Angeles modern architecture ( the
exceptions being the Case Study houses...) is that its roots are in Spanish
Colonial Revival architecture. He also writes about Green&Green regarding their
Pasadena Gamble House and how this house spawned the “California Bungalow,”
mass-produced throughout California. One would think that Cliff May would have
been superior example for Banham to use since May's modern ranch houses are
clearly indebted to Spanish Colonial architecture (a direct feed--May lived in a
real adobe courtyard house as a child) and ranch architecture in so many
ways—and May’s houses were mass-produced through out California. Gregory's book
has revealed what Banham's should've addressed.
Back to the book: Mr. Gregory’s book explains how May
blended Spanish courtyard houses with modern open-plans filled with modern
conveniences to create an elegant contemporary house well-suited for a hot dry
climate found in South-West. Born and raised in San Diego, he understood and
embraced the Southern California region and its weather like no other architect
practicing at the time. By use of beautiful photography and writing, we see
May’s vision of California ranch-style house and, just as important,
the California lifestyle his architecture promoted. Long low-slung houses with
large vaulted airy interiors that open up and embrace patios and gardens through
large doors, taking advantage of prevailing breezes and the warm weather
…outdoor rooms everywhere....swimming pools deftly integrated into the house and
garden….glass walls looking out at lush landscaping all around…..romantic
references to Spanish architecture sprinkled throughout. There are few
architects who knew how to integrate a swimming pool better into a house than
May. One can easily see the California Dream manifested in these houses…The
whole picture is incredibly seductive.
We also get to see houses that Cliff May designed for
himself and his family. It’s clear to me that May, when designing for himself,
could be very original. All these houses are wonderful, even incredible, and
my favorite is his 1949 house (Cliff May #4) where the house is essentially an
outdoor room with a huge operable skylight. Rooms below form the perimeter of
the house and are defined and enlarged by movable cabinetry underneath the main
roof—none have ceilings and are open to the main vaulted ceiling. The house has
a lot of nerve: It's one thing to open up the walls to the garden, knowing
there’s a solid roof that one can count on for some protection. But it takes a
lot of guts to open up the entire house to the sky with nothing in between you
and a rainstorm except a thin filmy nylon shades and a huge experimental
operable skylight. It's crazy; It's wild; It's wonderful--This house should be
considered as among the most original houses built in California at the time.
May’s embrace of the outdoors is total as well as literal—this house makes his
Los Angeles modern contemporaries look timid by comparison in how boldly this
house lets the outdoors inside in a very unexpected manner. The following
statement may be heresy to the SCI-Arc faculty and student body, but this house
may be just as bold and innovative as the famous Eames House built in the same
year-if not more.
The book also chronicles May’s close association with
“Sunset Magazine” and “House Beautiful” which featured Cliff May’s houses on a
regular basis. These magazines and the highly influential “Sunset Western Ranch
Houses” published by Sunset with Cliff May in 1946 (and, amazingly, still in
print) helped spread of the ranch house and the lifestyle throughout the United
States. Because of this exposure, the Sunset book, and the ease of
construction of this building style, knock-offs of May’s houses were reproduced
everywhere by developers to varying degrees of success.
Mr. Gregory’s wonderful book is especially relevant today
for two reasons in addition to rediscovering Cliff May. The book is terrific
“idea” source for ranch-style home-owners: These houses are remarkably
receptive to remodeling and additions. This book may help those homeowners who
dream of remodeling their house and garden....and even for those who are
building their house.
Another reason has to do with today’s interest in “green”
architecture. Cliff May’s work is a remarkably pragmatic, modern, and romantic
response to warm/hot-arid climates. In sync with its surrounding and
micro-climate, blended with technology in the right amount, his houses are
remarkably “green” without relying entirely on high-tech systems or green
materials. His skill at site-planning is exceptional as well in how he
manipulates and bends the floor plan to create outdoor spaces, create shady
areas, and protect from winds, etc. There are terrific lessons to be learned
from a Cliff May house that are applicable today.
The book has few if any shortcomings. I would have liked
to seen more examples of May’s custom mid-sized houses and few less examples of
his tract houses done for developers. Frankly, May’s tract homes, as nice as
they are, simply don’t have the sweep, elegance and power of his larger
houses. And that is the realm where we can begin to imagine the possibilities
of our own house and California living.
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