"Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House" by Daniel P. Gregory, with photographs by Joe Fletcher and a foreword by Joel Silver. (Rizzoli; 256 pages; $60).
It is a book designers need to look at, because May had a simple, but coherent philosophy. The 19th century California ranch house builders, he said, had the right idea. One story. No steps. Slab floors. Flowing, open interior spaces. The patio is part of the house space, not a slab of concrete outside, and not a separate backyard. No basements. Concrete slabs. His interiors and patios looked great with Eames furniture. He was out to create "space," but also space that transitioned seamlessly between inside and outside. Frankly, he was doing on a large scale what a lot of modernists were theorizing and talking about.
May built 18000 tract homes and 1000 custom homes including one near me this weekend in Rancho Alisal, Solvang, CA. I am writing this from the guest house of a Cliff May clone down the street from the real thing. The guy had chops. Even his clones are pleasant.
In the book noted above, there is also a fascinating May pictured that he build in Switzerland for Bill Lear.
There is also a great vignette in the book about FLW visiting Stanford to give a lecture in the early 50s, then being driven to Sunset magazine headquarters to self-promote and see Sunset's new building by a then little known home builder and self taught architect named Cliff May. FLW was initially taken to the wrong address, looked out at the building at the wrong address and said, "I will not go inside a building that poorly designed!"
Once the driver got FLW to the right address, a long, one-story ground hugger greeted and cheered FLW. When he went inside he was smitten with the entry way, the lobby and praised a large room that opened entirely onto a patio.
But FLW was not without criticism. He hated the stucco walls. Apparently, FLW hated all stucco by that time.
FLW was glad someone was trying to expand on what he had tried and a wee bit jealous and rightly so.
http://www.cliffmayregistry.com/ 
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