1963 Cliff May-designed Robert and Alice Power Residence in Camarillo
In the second half of the twentieth century, the Ranch style came to define Southern California living; with its rambling, low-slung profile, shallow-pitched roof, and open concept floor plan connecting it to its landscape, the ranch house embodied the effervescence of the buoyant post-war years. By the early 1960s, architectural designer Cliff May had been perfecting his take on the Ranch style for over thirty years, distilling the original adobe and Spanish Colonial forms into the sweeping ranch houses of the jet age.
The home is a classic May design, featuring an expansive roof line, indoor/outdoor floor plan built around a semi-sheltered pool, walls of glass, skylights, and adobe-inflected details such as viga and latilla style ceilings. The house is prominently planned around a central pool—a classic May design choice—and, with it’s walls of windows and sliding doors, invites the pool to become the central social space within the home, a true California original.
87 Vientos Road, a 4 bedroom, 4 bath, 3,569 square foot home located on a 1.09 acre lot, is currently listed for $2,360,000.
3 comments
I think the master bath/closet area rather odd.
I grew up in a family where folks may call out (well, yell) from one room to the next to get the attention of the other person they want to talk to. Obviously our house was compact. In this one, spread out as it is, I think a person would have to get up off their easy chair and find the other person to start the conversation, barring use of an intercom or walkie-talkie. Imagine a conversation between someone in the kitchen and another in the study. Strangely, and you know I would have to say this, if I am reading the plans correctly, there is not enough room inside the boundary walls of the living room for a parlor grand – I would have to fix that somehow.
A lot would depend upon the site and site plan. I grew up down the hill from this location in the more modest developer tract homes. Google street view shows a lot of front yard fences and driveway gates which give it an armed camp feel and contradict the expansiveness necessary for a ranch house design. It needs the vista and that is not possible given the way the area has developed.
So, if I had the $2.36M, I’d probably do something else with it.