Cliff May in Palm Springs at a glance
Cliff May built two houses side by side on Camino Mirasol in the Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs: the Irving T. Snyder house and gatehouse at 1145, from about 1938, which the record credits to designer John Porter Clark, and the 1945 Grace Robert house at 1133, where a newspaper named May the contractor.
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Before Palm Springs became the capital of desert modernism, the father of the California ranch house was building in Las Palmas. Two houses on one street, and why the record matters more here than the name.
Palm Springs is the place people go to see William Cody, Albert Frey, and Donald Wexler. Fewer know that Cody once worked for Cliff May, or that May was building in Las Palmas before the war, on a short stretch of Camino Mirasol where two of his houses sit next to each other.
This page keeps the record of those two houses, from Debbie Pisaro, who represents buyers and sellers of architectural homes across California and keeps the Cliff May architect profile. She founded Coastline 840 as a boutique California practice, and the story behind it is in why we built Coastline 840.
1145 and 1133 Camino Mirasol
The older of the two is the Irving T. Snyder house and gatehouse at 1145 Camino Mirasol, in what was then Las Palmas Estates. The Cliff May papers at UC Santa Barbara date the project 1937 to 1941, and the USModernist register lists it as 1938. The Huntington Library holds photographs of the Snyder residence.
Next door, at 1133 Camino del Mirasol, is the 1945 house for Mrs. Grace Robert. The UC Santa Barbara archive files it as “1133 Camino Marisol,” a spelling slip worth knowing about if you go looking for it, and a period newspaper lists May as its contractor.
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Designer, builder, or both: read the record
This is where Palm Springs gets interesting. The USModernist entry for the designer John Porter Clark credits him with the design of the Snyder house and says it was built by Cliff May. The Robert house is attributed to May through a newspaper notice that names him as contractor. In the 1930s and 1940s May often designed and built, and sometimes only built, so “a Cliff May” in Las Palmas can mean more than one thing.
For a buyer or a seller, the honest version is the valuable one. A listing that says “built by Cliff May, designed by John Porter Clark” is a better story than a vague “Cliff May style,” and it is the one an appraiser and a knowledgeable buyer will check. How attribution shows up in the price is in how to price an architectural home.
In Las Palmas, “a Cliff May” can mean more than one thing.
From May’s office to Palm Springs
William Cody, who became one of the defining architects of mid-century Palm Springs, worked in Cliff May’s office in the 1930s and 1940s. AFS Quarterly credits him with the drawings for the Boos speculative house in Mandeville Canyon, and he was project architect on the House Beautiful Pace Setter house in Riviera Ranch before he moved to the desert. The Camino Mirasol houses sit at the start of that line, and the desert modernism that came after, from Cody’s work to John Lautner’s Elrod House, is its long arc.
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Cliff May across California
Palm Springs is one stop on a statewide map. May’s first ranch houses are in San Diego. His own houses are in Brentwood, in Sullivan Canyon, where the Experimental House is a city monument. His tract work is at the Rancho Estates in Long Beach, and to the north are the houses in Ventura County. For buyers weighing a desert house as a second home, Debbie writes about buying a second home in California and about moving to Joshua Tree.
Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, founder of Coastline 840, and an Inman Luxury Leader, representing buyers and sellers of architectural homes across California. The thinking behind her practice is in why boutique real estate teams outperform big-box brokerages, and the statewide preservation picture is in how California protects historic architectural homes.
Branded residences
Architect-designed is one route into design-led living. A branded residence is the other, where the architecture, the service, and the management arrive as one package.
Cliff May in Palm Springs, answered
Are there Cliff May houses in Palm Springs?
Yes, two on Camino Mirasol in Las Palmas. The Irving T. Snyder house and gatehouse at 1145, from about 1938, is credited to designer John Porter Clark and built by Cliff May. The 1945 Grace Robert house at 1133 names May as contractor. Both appear in the Cliff May papers at UC Santa Barbara.
Where are the Cliff May houses in Palm Springs?
They are next to each other at 1145 and 1133 Camino Mirasol, sometimes written Camino del Mirasol, in the Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs 92262, an area once marketed as Las Palmas Estates. Both are private homes, so they are best seen from the street.
Did Cliff May design or build the Palm Springs houses?
The record says both. USModernist credits John Porter Clark with designing the Snyder house and May with building it, and a newspaper names May as contractor on the Robert house. In those years May sometimes designed and built and sometimes only built, so the attribution for each house should be stated exactly.
What is the connection between Cliff May and William Cody?
William Cody worked in Cliff May’s office before moving to Palm Springs, where he became one of the defining mid-century architects of the desert. AFS Quarterly credits him with drawing May’s Boos house in Mandeville Canyon, and he was project architect on the House Beautiful Pace Setter house in Riviera Ranch, Brentwood.
How do you verify a Cliff May house in the desert?
Start with the Cliff May papers at UC Santa Barbara, which list commissions by client and address, then the original permit, period newspaper notices, and photographs such as the Huntington Library’s. Note who designed and who built. A clear, sourced attribution is worth more to a buyer and an appraiser than a loose “Cliff May style.”
Who is a good real estate agent for architectural homes in Palm Springs?
Debbie Pisaro is a Real Estate Salesperson and the founder of Coastline 840, a boutique California practice working with architectural, historic, and design-forward homes across the state, from the coast to the desert. She is an Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience, and many of the homes she sells never reach the open market.
Debbie Pisaro helps owners of architectural homes document what they have before pricing, and represents buyers across California.
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Debbie Pisaro, Real Estate Salesperson, DRE #01369110, is the founder of Coastline 840, a boutique California practice, and an Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market. Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153, her responsible broker. Powered by Side: #1 California-based brokerage, No. 9 in the nation. She writes about California real estate at coastline840.com, losfelizliving.com, and debbiepisaro.com. Sources: UC Santa Barbara Architecture and Design Collection, Cliff May papers; USModernist, Cliff May and John Porter Clark registries; The Huntington Library, Snyder residence photographs. Published November 2026.
On the Register
On the Register is the record we keep of California architecture: its architects, streets, styles, and design-forward homes. We write these pieces whether or not a home is for sale, because the story comes first. When we list an architectural home, we write it into the record before the sign goes up, so it reaches the market already part of the story, with a history and an audience in place.
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