Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery in Montgomery County, Maryland

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Most of my posts here focus on architecture, preservation, and people such as Cliff May, but occasionally a local project comes along that I think deserves attention. Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery in Montgomery County, Maryland,… Continue reading →

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How Ranch Houses Helped Build the American Dream

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For many Americans, the ranch house feels ordinary. It dots the suburban landscape—the long, low house you grew up in, the one your grandparents still live in, or the one you pass without… Continue reading →

Violetta Lee Horton: Patron of Cliff May

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Part of the series “The Women Behind Cliff May and His Success.” Before Cliff May became the “father of the California Ranch House,” he was a young designer with bold ideas and few… Continue reading →

Cliff May’s Roadside Ranch: The Spirit of Home at the “Rancheria Motel”

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By the time Cliff May designed the “Rancheria Motel” in Montecito in 1936, he was well known in California for his distinctive residential architecture. Having built around fifty houses in the San Diego area, May was lauded… Continue reading →

Cliff May’s “Pricesetter House”

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By Mary A. van Balgooy With the Depression and World War II behind them, many Americans were eager tosettle down, marry, and start families. The prosperity of postwar America madehomeownership more attainable than… Continue reading →