1908 – 1989 Master Architect Clifford Magee May, undisputed father of the modern ranch house, was a sixth-generation San Diego native, born in 1908, and a descendant of the pioneering Estudillo family. He did not have formal architectural training, but learned his craft on the job, finding inspiration in his personal connection and detailed knowledge of the region’s Spanish colonial architectural heritage. May built his first house with the help of engineering contractor Orville U. Miracle in 1931. Its successful sale encouraged him to build additional speculative houses. Between 1931 and 1937, May designed approximately fifty houses in San Diego. Most of his houses reflect traditional adobe hacienda architecture, but featured the newest materials and construction techniques. They are typically low in scale and spread out on the parcel to create definition between the street and the private space for the resident. The result was a new informal suburban style with understated luxury and stressing his belief that a house should be integrated with nature. In 1938, May moved to Los Angeles where he became internationally known through published designs in Sunset Magazine. Over the course of his life May designed more than one thousand buildings including the headquarters of Sunset Magazine, the Los Angeles home of Zubin Metha, music director for the New York Philharmonic, and a house for Gianni Agnelli, founder of Fiat, the Italian car company. May obtained his architectural license in 1988 when architectural licenses were granted to all registered designers by Governor Deukmejian. He died in October of 1989. There are currently six May‐designed houses listed on the City of San Diego Historic Register: four in his more “traditional” Hacienda style with smooth stucco walls and red tile roofs. At least one of these earlier versions is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The two other houses were designed in a more Anglo‐influenced Ranch style with board and batten walls and shake shingle roofs. At least four houses on Hillside Drive were designed by May for Violetta Horton to be sold for a profit. All four of these spec houses have been designated as historic landmarks by the HRB, however, two (Violetta Horton/Cliff May Spec Houses # 1 and 2) have been relocated and no longer stand on their original locations.
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