EYE ON DESIGN #2: Mid-Century Mod

NEWS AND IDEAS ABOUT HOME from Dan Gregory, Editor of Houseplans.com, the largest online source of architectural stock plans

This Just Out!

My book Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House, published by Rizzoli with photography by Joe Fletcher, who does a lot of work for Wallpaper, and foreword by film producer Joel Silver, is now available in bookstores.

Cliff May was the father of the suburban ranch house, a rambling, modern, romantic, outdoor-oriented house form that took the country by storm after World War II. He was not the only ranch house designer but he was the most influential, thanks to his gift for innovation, canny salesmanship, and flawless timing. He popularized a seductive and yet very practical concept of California living. Among the features he perfected were the slab foundation, the window wall, the vanity, the ridge skylight, and the whole-house intercom.

He personally designed more than 1,000 homes and commercial buildings, including the offices of Sunset magazine, built in 1951, where I was privileged to work for many years. Sunset's glass-walled lobby is shown below. You can see it and tour the extensive gardens designed by landscape architect Thomas Church (80 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California) from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. Or subscribe to the magazine and learn about Living in the West. The corporate headquarters and the magazine remain vital extensions of each other. There's even a "Test Garden" where stories are developed.

Cliff also designed the famous Robert Mondavi Winery of 1966
in California's Napa Valley, illustrated here with a wine label showing the iconic arch and tower.

Rediscovery And Renewal

Builders and developers loved Cliff May's plans: you can find his houses in suburban neighborhoods across the country. Now a Cliff May renaissance is under way, especially in places like the Long Beach Ranchos in Southern California. Doug and Rochelle Kramer exemplify this trend: they're realtors who live in a Cliff May and specialize in restoring and selling his designs. See their current offerings at Rancho Style. Here are two:

 

For more evidence of May (not March!) Madness visit The Cliff May Registry, a labor of love by Cliff May homeowner Stephen Meade, who has created the largest online national listing of Cliff May designs. Mid-century modern tract house designs are also part of the general discussion groups at a website called Lottaliving. The Architecture & Design Collection at the University of California at Santa Barbara will soon be fanning the Cliff May campfire with a major exhibition on the ranch house tentatively scheduled for 2011.

A Book Stampede

The May revival is part of a larger renaissance of interest in mid-century modern home design of all kinds, prompted by such books as Alan Hess' The Ranch House and Forgotten Modern, Kathy Samon's Ranch House Style, Eichler: Modernism Builds the American Dream by  Paul Adamson and Marty Arbunich, and Michelle Gringeri-Brown's Atomic Ranch, which is a sister publication to Atomic Ranch Magazine.

Eichler houses have an important champion in the Eichler Network, which publishes an informative magazine called CA-Modern. 

Meanwhile Back At Houseplans.com

All this interest in mid-century modern tract ranch houses has made me want to start a Mid-Century Modern Collection at Houseplans.com. We're beginning to work on it now, so don't be a stranger; click on Houseplans.com to see our ever expanding inventory of architectural plans.

Comments

[Laura]

Thank you so much for writing this great book! We have been trying to find out for some time which model our May house was.....and you solved the mystery. We now know we are the proud owners of a Pacesetter House (I am sure one of thousands) featured in the Feb 1948 issue of House Beautiful. Without your book we would have still been looking. This is a great book for anyone (like us) who wants to learn more about Cliff May.