Growing up in New Jersey I remember being mystified by the early Beach Boys hits. Songs like "I Get Around" and "Help Me Rhonda" made sense to me musically, but I just didn't understand what they were talking about. It was the final verse of "Good Vibrations" that totally threw me for a loop--"gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin'with her"--California was definitely another planet.

...

CLIFF MAY'S MODERN HOMES epitomize the indoor-outdoor lifestyle characteristic of the American Dream, fusing the open plan/open living philosophy with the traditional ranch house. Starting in the 1930s,the modern ranch house took the country by storm, migrating from California to Arizona, and Cliff May was the chief proponent of this style. His long, low designs managed to be both modern and traditional,celebrating a casually elegant, indoor-out-door lifestyle, and drawing inspiration from California's Spanish Mexican ranchos while embracing the latest technological gadgetry.With their low profile, large carports and garages, patios, and expansive horizontality,May's modern ranch houses became synonymous with the nascent California lifestyle and were enthusiastically promoted by the popular Sunset magazine throughout the U.S. He personally designed and built more than 1,000 homes and commercial buildings, and over 18,000 designs are attributed to his office, including the Robert Mondavi Winery and the offices of Sunset.

Complete with new color photography,Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House celebrates the best of May's work, from his start building homes during the Depression to how he evolved a brand of regional modernity that fulfilled the public's desire for informal living in the 1950s and 1960s.

Foreword

Introduction

California Living

Who Was Cliff May

Haciendas and Rancherias

Corrals and Cul-de-Sacs eo Going National

May and Sunset

Setting the Pattern

The Pace-setter House

Designer vs. Architect se Furnishing and Flexibility

The Laboratory of Western Living

Wright, Sunset, and "So-called Modern"

Visions and Subdivisions

The Road to Mandalay

Theme and Variations

Notes

Index

Image Credits

Acknowledgments