The Cliff May Experimental House was built by Cliff May in the early 1950s as his family's fourth house and developed to push his ideas of "bringing the outdoors in" and open interior planning. The one-story, 1800-sf house is a simple rectangle in plan with a 288-square foot open skylight in the center. May's family of five created different rooms by using movable partitions. The family resided in the home for two years, while May determined how the sizeable skylight and open plan functioned for the residents there. From this experience, the home "Mandalay" was designed by Ray, which became the last home for his family.