Despite never being formally registered as an architect, Cliff May had a huge impact on American residential design through the development of the California ranch house, which, as he told the New York Times shortly before his death in 1989, was "everything a California house should be -it had cross-ventilation, the floor was level with the ground, and with its courtyard and the exterior corridor, it was about sunshine and informal outdoor living." Over his lifetime, May built more than a thousand custom homes, while at least eighteen-thousand tract houses were built on his prototypes, solidifying the post-war 'dream home' as a West Coast standard. Built half a decade into his career in 1936, this four-bedroom, 4,600-square-foot La Habra Heights ranch home is essentially a prototype for the prototype, and bears all the hallmarks one might expect—heavy timber beams "like the California Missions themselves," an adobe tile roof, a large central courtyard—as well as an aviary and an olive orchard thrown in for good measure. Back in 2012, the place was featured in a U.C. Santa Barbara May retrospective called 'Carefree California,' and now that it's on the market, it should be ripe for the picking at $3M. Look it over below:
· 760 Via Miguel, La Habra Heights [Redfin]
· All Cliff May coverage [Curbed LA]
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