Cliff May papers, circa 1931-circa 1989

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
May, Cliff, Cliff May Homes, Gordon, Elizabeth, Jamison, Frederick, Watson, Sterling, Parker, Maynard L, Choate, Chris, and May, Cliff
Extent:
350 Linear Feet (184 record storage, card boxes and flat boxes, and 55 flat file drawers)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Cliff May papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The Cliff May papers span 350 linear feet and date from circa 1931 to circa 1989. The collection is comprised of architectural drawings and sketches (originals and reprographic copies), clippings and scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, awards, financial records, legal files including for lawsuits, appointment books, one model, a bust, and ephemera. Papers document most of Cliff May's house designs and his marketing of his work, beginning in the 1930s in San Diego, and including his designs for haciendas, Monterey Revival, and California ranch houses for individual clients and for licensing by other builders and developers for medium and low cost ranch house developments in California, Texas, other places in the U.S., and even in other countries.

Biographical / historical:

Born in San Diego, Cliff May (1908-1989) was a sixth-generation Californian. He studied business at San Diego State College from 1929-1931, but left without a diploma. After leaving San Diego State, May began building Monterey style furniture. Furniture building led to building his first house with help from developer Roy Lichty, his father-in-law. Before May moved to Los Angeles in 1936, he had built 35 houses over a 5 year period in San Diego.

Cliff May relocated to Los Angeles to work with financier John A. Smith. Together they embarked on building and marketing May's urban ranch house designs, including for the development called Riviera Ranch, a subdivision in West Los Angeles marketed to the wealthy. By 1943, he had established a national reputation as a designer of custom California Ranch Houses.

May participated in House Beautiful's Pace Setter Program, a series of exhibition houses, by designing the first Pace Setter House, which was built in Riviera Ranch in 1948. As Cliff May Homes Incorporated, May sold low-cost ranch home plans to developers in California and across the country. May designed and built the corporate headquarters for the Lane Publishing Company (Sunset magazine) in Menlo Park and the Robert Mondavi winery in Rutherford, California. May maintained an active architectural practice in Los Angeles until his death in 1989.

Custodial history:

Gift of Cliff May, 1989. Additional materials gifted by Michael May in 2001, David Balfour in 2003, and Greg Friedman 2011.

Physical location:
ADC: boxes 1-6, 13-28, 46-55, 83-85, 87-170, 172-178, 179A, 180, oversized boxes 86, 171, 181-183AB Mosher: boxes 7-12, 29-45, 56-82, 179B (3-D object, bust of Cliff May) NOTE: the box and folder numbering is off, starting at box # 77
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Preferred citation:

Cliff May papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-7130, US
Contact:
(805) 893-2724