Restoring a historic home is a labor of love. Like eloping after only a few dates, it’s mostly a leap of faith. On paper, it rarely makes financial sense and the hardships and sacrifices are plenty. But you’re in love’ and despite what your friends have to say, there’s no turning back. I know this feeling; as an architect, I’ve felt it a few times myself. So when I sat down in the courtyard of Molly and Tom Coumes’ historic Cliff May home as the sun was setting and the afternoon quieted, it really didn’t take long to appreciate the love story between home owner and house.
Like a lot of great romances, Molly and Tom Coumes weren’t looking to buy a ‘fix-er’ with a young family to raise and the two of them working full-time. But there it was — a diminutive Spanish style ranch home, neglected and tagged as a ‘tear down’. Molly’s commute to work brought her past the house and her curiosity brought her to the front door. Through the wooden gate that marks the entrance – Molly could see the outline of the courtyard, a haphazard tile roof and an exterior corridor with french doors leading off of every room to the central garden. It immediately brought her back to her childhood in Monterey and the Bay Area, a reminder of the rustic courtyards and the Spanish inspired monasteries she grew up around. Whether it was love at first sight or not, the house felt familiar, and Molly rushed to get Tom to preview it with her. Similarly, Tom also had experience with a ‘ranch style’ house while he was growing up. In fact, he would later inherit (as part of his father’s book collection) a vintage Sunset Home edition featuring the designs of Cliff May. Fast forward 10 years and many, many projects later — the house is now ‘home sweet home’.
Cliff May, a native San Diegan, is the celebrated ‘father’ of the iconic ranch home. While never trained formally as an architect, he was prolific in designing and building homes throughout Southern California from the early 1930’s through the late 1960’s. Although the majority of his published work focuses mainly on the homes he designed in the 50’s and 60’s, it was his earlier work – the more rustic look of a hacienda style home with which he blessed Coronado. Currently, there are seven homes on Coronado having been identified as designed by Cliff May. My guess, however, is that there are a few more waiting to be registered, as his style is unmistakable. I contacted the San Diego Historical Society on that hunch, and learned that the Cliff May ledger includes numerous addresses throughout Coronado and San Diego. While his architectural style evolved from the California Adobe Rancho to the modern and clean lined look of the iconic 60’s rancher, he stayed true to his roots of indoor-outdoor living, central courtyards and simple hand crafted details. So true, I thought, as I sat in the courtyard reflecting on the simple beauty of Molly and Tom’s Cliff May home.
While it is usually houses that I fall in love with, I admitted to Molly and Tom that I had a bit of a ‘crush’ on Cliff May. A talented musician who once had his own jazz band who played sax at the Hotel Del Coronado, and later in his youth made a living as a furniture maker, he struck me as more ‘hands-on’ builder than bookish intellectual. Having myself spent too much time in architecture school studying at the feet of aging french modernists, Cliff May was a breath of fresh air. I was drawn to know more about the personal life of Cliff May and how it influenced his work as an architect.
Growing up in Southern California, his mother was a sixth-generation Californian with roots tracing back to the Spanish Colonial era. Cliff May spent his childhood visiting the Monterey style homes and adobe ranches of his relatives. No doubt this inspired his early interest in the ‘hacienda’ form and his affinity to living with nature. His early homes, such as those on Coronado, are distinguished by gated front doors that open into courtyards, rooms that connect directly to gardens, bee hive fireplaces and wooden grills along the exterior windows with cut outs for flower pots. Hand hewn beams and delicate flowers painted on terra cotta tiles became one of his many trademarks distinguishing his early ‘rancho’ style. Cliff May’s homes of this era were often described as ‘romantic, ‘charming’ and adventurous’ and many of the homes he designed were personalized and labored by his own hand.
As I got to know Molly and Tom, I heard their own stories of laboring by hand as they restored each part of their Cliff May home: Molly recalled the linoleum that canvased the kitchen that one day she pulled back a corner to discover that the original sautillo tile floor was still intact.; the pavers that had to be lifted and salvaged from the front of the home to be replaced by hand in the courtyard; and the kitchen in which, even now, Molly washes dishes by hand, as the original sink did not have room for a modern dishwasher. Tom spoke of still more projects — the windows that needed to be adjusted and the landscaping that had to be replanted.
As with many Cliff May homes, an Olive tree was the focal point of their courtyard, but over time, it had become diseased and needed replacing. A new Olive tree now stands proudly, ‘hand’ placed with the help of a crane. Fittingly, the trunk of the old tree was cut into stools and set near the outdoor fire place as a final resting spot.
A tour of Molly and Tom’s home reveals more hand crafted details; original hardware, artisan lighting, pickled beams, delicate painted tiles, and even an antique metal safe tucked into a wardrobe. A small nook between the living room and bedroom provides a telephone alcove for private calls. A fireplace in the kitchen evokes the spirit of cool mornings and coffee warming. A potter’s shelf with built-in sink and copper spigot is tucked inconspicuously into the entrance alcove, converted by it’s current owners to a ‘bar’ for cocktails in the courtyard. Much of the work that Molly and Tom did to restore their home they did by hand, and it is this care that is, perhaps, the most special part of their Cliff May house.
As the light in the courtyard faded, our conversation shifted to today’s current trends on Coronado to live ‘large’ and consume every build-able inch of a property lot. This same trend leads many to dig underground for garages and max out square footage with a third story. In contrast, Molly and Tom’s 1938 one-story home sits humbly at approximately 1850 square feet. The rooms are human in scale, it’s roof line is low, and the garden is generous. I shared with Molly and Tom my own experiences of scaling down and trying to live with a smaller footprint. We mutually agreed that a small home forces the discipline to not over-collect or furnish your home as a miniature mansion. Molly recalled the early days of their ownership and how doubtful their friends were of the work that would be required to restore the property. We circled back to our first topic of falling in love with the character of an older home and the nostalgia it brings when personal belongings seemed to naturally fit the soul of the house, be it the braided hammock in the corridor, the art collection from Brazil, or even the colonial family bed. Molly and Tom Coumes’ relationship with their home is truly equal parts chemistry and destiny – a formula that makes for a very good love story. One, I thought, Cliff May would have been happy to have his hand in.
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Katy Hendrickson
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
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