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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

1. Discovering a Cliff May Home

We have an old hacienda-style house with open-beam ceilings, that surrounds a completely enclosed courtyard.  For years, people, including many architects, have told us we have a Cliff May house.

I saw a sketch of a 1932 Cliff May spec house in a book & noticed that it looked a lot like our house.  I then flipped the image horizontally & saw that it is substantially identical to our house.


1932 Cliff May spec house  & mirror image
original sketch:
mirrored sketch:
image from CAREFREE CALIFORNIA: CLIFF MAY AND THE ROMANCE OF THE RANCH HOUSE



Comparing the mirrored 1932 sketch with our house, the similarities jump out more than the differences.  (The home originally had a shake roof, but was recently replaced with composition shingle)



below pic shows the original brick driveway
(since replaced with stamped concrete)





For some perspective on the time that our house was built, see it in this 1936 aerial photo. (the barn formerly in the back is gone - only the original poured foundation remains)



And then a photo from the 1950s:



The original Building Inspection, dated 9/20/1935, was found nailed onto the garage wall behind the water heater:





Links To Blog Posts:
1. Discovering a Cliff May Home | 2. Comparing to known Cliff May designs | 3. Olive Tree | 4. Floor Plan | 5. Backyard Brick Path and Clothesline | 6. Pine Tree | 7. Driveway & Mechanic's Pit | 8. Wild Parrots | 9. Misc Pics