THE THIRD HOME BUILT BY CLIFF MAY was lost in a gas explosion in the 1970s. It is of major importance in the evolution of May’s style. One of the most descriptive articles detailing May’s work was of this home. The article, which was printed in American Home Magazine in February 1935, shows just how enamored the public and the media was with the young May. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate.

Re-Creating An Ancient Mexican Hacienda
By Eloise Roorbach • Photographs by Wayne Albee

The word “hacienda,” as rather carelessly used today, means a Mexican country house only, though originally the name included the entire estate, grazing lands, forests, and farming acres. With rooms arranged around a central courtyard or patio, it was in reality more than a dwelling house. Somewhat like a stockade as far as high walls and a single entrance are concerned, it was a sanctuary, a place of refuge in times of stress.

Literally the name means “things to be done,” and certainly, many and various “things” were done in the early California haciendas, especially in that center of family life, the patio. At times the family burros and horses were sheltered in the patio, as in French courtyards, so an anvil might frequently be found in a corner near a forge. Within the shade of its arches the women ground corn in stone metates for the daily tortilla. Red peppers and strings of Indian corn hung from the rafters. Ollas were strung from beams, or branches of a Lime or an Olive tree, where winds might keep the drinking water cool.

A loom occupied a sheltered comer and clothing, rugs, and curtains were woven on it according to the fancy and skill of the weaver. Food and water jars, moulded of adobe, were set in sunny spaces to dry. There were benches against the wall where the men could idle happy hours away while twanging out the measures of a dance on their guitars. 1n the patio, the great outdoor room of the house, guests were received, meals served, siestas enjoyed, and flowers bloomed. It was a gay, lovable, and most important part of every true hacienda.

The hacienda, as being re-created today in southern California, is splendidly adapted to modern living and its patio is just such a lovable, romantic, and indispensable part of it.

Cliff May, a young man of San Diego, has recently embodied his love of our old adobe haciendas in a modern house that holds all the charm and poetic beauty of the past, yet leaves nothing to be desired in the way of luxurious comfort.

A great-great grandson of that pioneer who built and lived in the historic adobe in Old Town, San Diego, known to everyone as Ramona’s Marriage Place; a direct descendant of the distinguished Estudillo and de Pedrorena families who played so vital a part in early California history; who spent much of his boyhood in the adobe house (built in 1812) on the famous Las Flores rancho—he, naturally, imbibed the spirit of those secluded buildings. So, loving and respecting them, feeling that they are eminently desirable for present-day living, he is devoting his life to re-creating them, preserving all that is most to be desired in them, but introducing, in an unobtrusive way, every modern device that adds to the comfort and ease of living.

For instance, the walls are of hollow tile, instead of perishable adobe, but are made to look as though they were three feet thick, as were the old adobe walls. The space between is cleverly used for closets, cupboards, and books. There are modern heating plants, copper water pipes, and weather strips, ventilated niches for kitchen stove, convenient places for electric refrigerators, laundry tubs, and garage.