Cliff May: Riviera Ranch photographs (Los Angeles, Calif.)

May evoked the mystique of California’s past and the proximity to the Riviera Country Club’s polo field to market his houses, as seen in his ideas to promote his Riviera Ranch development. He named his model house the “Urban Ranch.”

Though Riviera Ranch now sits in the middle of west Los Angeles, surrounded by houses and bordered by busy Sunset Boulevard, these images from 1938 show how rural and undeveloped the area was when May began construction.

Cliff May, architect

Cliff May papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

circa 1938

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