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-outdoor 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.
Product Features
- Used Book in Good Condition
Terrific retrospective on the “Father” of Ranch House design Another stunning effort by Rizzoli International Publications documents the career and widespread influence of Cliff May on mid-20th century residential architecture. Dan Gregory’s text is informative and entertaining, and provides excellent insight regarding the early-California ranchos influences and thinking behind May’s design ideas. Joe Fletcher’s photography offers a lot of diversity, showing both contemporary period shots as well as numerous beautiful modern-day views of many of May’s…
GORGEOUS PHOTOS…GREAT BOOK Beautiful photographs. I LOVE architecture and this is one of many coffee table books I collect on the subject. Spanish, Italian, Mediterranean, Mid Century modern, I love many styles architecture. This is well made and nice to look at.
Better pass on this one. Not what I thought it would be. Rather dreary and uninteresting to put it mildly. The brown on the cover should have been my first sign. Looks nice buried under the rest of my books.