builder filesfile 11 of 42built here c. 1950sboyenga team at compass
Cliff May ranch homes
Cliff May was a self-taught building designer, not a licensed architect, who helped define the California ranch house. In our area he designed the Rancho Rinconada tract in Cupertino for Stern & Price, Sunset magazine’s Menlo Park headquarters and custom ranch houses in Portola Valley and Woodside. Here’s what the records confirm and what the homes sell for.
- designer
- Cliff May (1908–1989)
- training
- self-taught building designer and contractor
- partner
- Chris Choate, on low-cost tract designs from 1950
- company
- Cliff May Homes, which sold ranch plans to builders
- book
- Western Ranch Houses, with Sunset
- archive
- UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum
- listings say
- “Cliff May design”
- sales on record · live…
- median $/sq ft, last 2 yrs…
- for sale now · live…
- houses built from his tract designs, by his own estimate18,000+
where they are
His work in our area
From May’s 1984 UCLA oral history, the Cupertino Historical Society, The Cultural Landscape Foundation and UC Santa Barbara. Listing-only credits are marked.
| work | city | years | homes | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Rinconada | Cupertino | early 1950s | about 900, by May’s count | Low-cost one-story ranch houses from four models, built by Stern & Price. May recalled the tract in his oral history and the Cupertino Historical Society credits him; other sources give different counts. |
| Sunset magazine headquarters | Menlo Park | 1951–1952 | office | A ranch-style office campus around a courtyard with gardens by Thomas Church; found eligible for the National Register in 2025 but not listed after the owner objected. |
| Bill Lane house | Portola Valley | about 1956 | 1 | A custom ranch house in the Westridge neighborhood for Sunset’s publisher, with wings planned for a growing family, per May’s oral history. |
| Philbin house | Woodside | 1959–1960 | 1 | A later custom ranch house named in UC Santa Barbara’s 2012 Cliff May exhibition. |
| Other custom homes | Portola Valley, Los Altos Hills, Saratoga | — | — | Listings credit him with houses in these towns; we couldn’t confirm them from records. |
Builders across the West used his low-cost designs, but we found no other Cliff May tract in our area. Listings that say a house is “Cliff May inspired” describe the style, not his design.
how to spot one
How to spot a Cliff May house
From his oral history, The Cultural Landscape Foundation and UC Santa Barbara.
- plan
Built around a patio
One-story plans wrap around patios and courtyards for indoor-outdoor living, as May described in his oral history.
- materials
Board and batten on a slab
His low-cost tract houses used wood framing and board-and-batten siding on a concrete slab, by his account.
- glass
Big glass and sliders
Floor-to-ceiling or half-height windows and sliding doors open the rooms to the yard.
- growth
Plans that grow
The Lane house was planned with wings to add as the family grew, a design Sunset published as “Ranch House for a Growing Family.”
- myth check
“Inspired by” isn’t his
Listings that say “Cliff May inspired” or “in the style of” describe the look, not his design; the ledger leaves those out.
the sales ledger
Every recorded Cliff May sale
Each dot is a sale whose listing credits Cliff May with the design. Hover a dot for the address, date and price.
- sales on record…
- median price…
- median $ per sq ft…
- latest sale…
one recorded salemedian for the yearprice per sq ft = sale price ÷ listed living area
| sold | address | price | $/sq ft | bd / ba | sq ft |
|---|
Rancho Rinconada houses often sell without his name; their sales are on the Stern & Price ledger. Listing credits elsewhere are leads to confirm. Sales come from the MLS records available to us and include every sold listing whose description names the builder, so a few homes may be labeled by the listing agent rather than confirmed from tract records. Sold data is shown with the listing brokerage. Price per square foot uses the living area in the listing. Ask us for a full comparable-sales report on any address.
on the market
For sale now
Active listings whose description credits Cliff May.
Checking active listings…
owning one today
Owning one today
- Rancho RinconadaWe found no historic district or design guidelines for the tract, and many original houses have been replaced or enlarged. Check the year built and permit history before calling a house an original.
- Design reviewPortola Valley and Woodside review new homes and major remodels through their architecture boards. Check the town’s process before planning changes.
- Homes of this agePlan for foundation, roof, electrical and plumbing checks, and slab and drainage checks on the tract houses. Our Inspection Decoder covers what to order.
the nerd check
Buying or selling one
What we check when you buy
- Confirm the designerWe look for plans, permits or an archive record, since a listing credit alone isn’t proof.
- Permits and historyWe check the permit history for additions and conversions before you plan a remodel.
- InspectionsRoof, foundation and systems matched to the home’s age. Our Inspection Decoder covers what to order.
- The right comparablesWe compare against similar homes in the same neighborhood first.
How we market one when you sell
- Document the designA documented Cliff May design is part of the value; we gather the records that prove it.
- Photograph the detailsCourtyards, beams, glass and the garden, shot to show the design.
- Prep with a planOur Prep Lab budgets repairs and refresh before you list.
- Price from real salesWe price from recent sales of similar homes nearby.
questions
Questions we hear
Was Cliff May an architect?
No. The introduction to his 1984 UCLA oral history calls him a building designer and contractor who learned his trade through practice. He and Chris Choate sold low-cost ranch designs to builders from 1950, and he estimated that at least 18,000 houses were built from them.
Did Cliff May design Rancho Rinconada?
Yes. In his oral history he recalled a tract for Stern & Price in Cupertino, about 900 houses from four models, and the Cupertino Historical Society credits him. Other sources give different counts and dates.
What else did he design nearby?
Sunset magazine’s Menlo Park headquarters (1951–1952, gardens by Thomas Church), a house in Portola Valley’s Westridge neighborhood for Sunset publisher Bill Lane, and the Philbin house in Woodside (1959–1960).
Is my house a real Cliff May?
Look for plans, permits or a record in his papers at UC Santa Barbara. Listings that say “inspired by” or “in the style of” describe the look, not his design.
sources
Sources
His oral history, archives, historical societies and local news, checked October 2026.
- Cliff May oral history, UCLA Oral History Program (1984)His training, the Stern & Price tract and the Lane housearchive.org/details/californiaranchh00mayc
- Online Archive of California: Cliff May papers, UC Santa BarbaraCliff May Homes and his archiveoac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0199r5db/
- Cupertino Historical Society: Rancho RinconadaStern & Price and Cliff Maycupertinomuseum.org/ranchoRinconada.html
- The Cultural Landscape Foundation: Sunset Magazine headquartersMay and Church, 1951–1952www.tclf.org/landscapes/sunset-magazine-headquarters
- Palo Alto Daily Post: former Sunset site eligible for historic designation (2025)The 2025 National Register decisionpadailypost.com/2025/07/03/feds-say-former-sunset-site-is-eligible-for-historic-designation/
- UC Santa Barbara: Carefree California exhibition (2012)The Philbin house and his custom rancheswww.museum.ucsb.edu/exhibition/carefree-california-cliff-may-and-the-romance-of-the-ranch-house/
builder files
Every builder file, by era
Bars show the years each builder was building here. See all builders or the home styles field guide.
- Fernando Nelson1880–1920s
- Gellert (Sunstream)1922–1972
- Birge Clark1922–1970s
- Stoneson1920s–1960s
- Doelger1927–1960s
- McKeon1927–early 1970s
- Gardner Dailey1930s–1960s
- William Wurster1930s–1960s
- Rousseau1931–1933
- Bohannon1936–1955
- Cliff May1950s
- Stern & Price1951–1953
- Mackay Homes1950s
- Mardell1955–1959
- Hayman Homes1960s–1970s
- Ditz-Crane1962–1984
- Brown & Kauffmann1960s–1981
- Bahl1968–1986
- Ponderosa Homes1970s–1990s
- Shapell1971–2000s
- SummerHill Homes1976–today
- Pinn Brothers1976–today
- Robson Homes1989–today
- Pacific Peninsula Group1989–today
- Barry Swenson Builder1990s–2010s
- Classic Communities1990s–2010s
- Warmington1990s–2020s
- DeNova Homes2000s–today
- City Ventures2011–today
- Trumark Homes2012–today
- Dividend Homes2010s–today
- KB Home1980s–today
- Brookfield1990s–today
- Pulte Homes2000s–today
- Shea Homes2000s–2010s
- Lennar2000s–today
- Toll Brothers2000s–today
- Taylor Morrison2007–today
- D.R. Horton2010s
- Tri Pointe Homes2012–today
- K. Hovnanian2014–2018
- Meritage Homes2010s
talk to a property nerd
Own a Cliff May house?
We can help document the design, check the town’s review rules and value it against recent sales nearby. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.
