diff --git a/lib/cassandra/cassandra.rb b/lib/cassandra/cassandra.rb
index 7842dd7..59bfb71 100755
--- a/lib/cassandra/cassandra.rb
+++ b/lib/cassandra/cassandra.rb
@@ -154,6 +154,15 @@ def keyspaces
     client.describe_keyspaces.to_a.collect {|ksdef| ksdef.name }
   end
 
+  ##
+  # Return a hash of column_family definitions indexed by their
+  # names
+  def column_families
+    return false if Cassandra.VERSION.to_f < 0.7
+
+    schema.cf_defs.inject(Hash.new){|memo, cf_def| memo[cf_def.name] = cf_def; memo;}
+  end
+
   ##
   # Return a Cassandra::Keyspace object loaded with the current
   # keyspaces schema.
diff --git a/lib/cassandra/mock.rb b/lib/cassandra/mock.rb
index 9d426b0..8a25156 100755
--- a/lib/cassandra/mock.rb
+++ b/lib/cassandra/mock.rb
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ def get_columns(column_family, key, *columns_and_options)
 
     def count_columns(column_family, key, *columns_and_options)
       column_family, columns, sub_columns, options = extract_and_validate_params_for_real(column_family, key, columns_and_options, READ_DEFAULTS)
-      
+
       get(column_family, key, columns, options).keys.length
     end
 
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ def multi_count_columns(column_family, keys)
     end
 
     def get_range(column_family, options = {}, &blk)
-      column_family, _, _, options = extract_and_validate_params_for_real(column_family, "", [options], 
+      column_family, _, _, options = extract_and_validate_params_for_real(column_family, "", [options],
                                                                           READ_DEFAULTS.merge(:start_key  => nil,
                                                                                               :finish_key => nil,
                                                                                               :key_count  => 100,
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ def each(column_family, options = {})
     def create_index(ks_name, cf_name, c_name, v_class)
       if @indexes[ks_name] &&
         @indexes[ks_name][cf_name] &&
-        @indexes[ks_name][cf_name][c_name] 
+        @indexes[ks_name][cf_name][c_name]
         nil
 
       else
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ def create_index(ks_name, cf_name, c_name, v_class)
     def drop_index(ks_name, cf_name, c_name)
       if @indexes[ks_name] &&
         @indexes[ks_name][cf_name] &&
-        @indexes[ks_name][cf_name][c_name] 
+        @indexes[ks_name][cf_name][c_name]
 
         @indexes[ks_name][cf_name].delete(c_name)
       else
@@ -329,6 +329,21 @@ def add(column_family, key, value, *columns_and_options)
       nil
     end
 
+    def column_families
+      cf_defs = {}
+      schema.each do |key, value|
+        cf_def = Cassandra::ColumnFamily.new
+
+        value.each do |property, property_value|
+          cf_def.send(:"#{property}=", property_value)
+        end
+
+        cf_defs[key] = cf_def
+      end
+
+      cf_defs
+    end
+
     def schema(load=true)
       @schema
     end
@@ -338,11 +353,24 @@ def column_family_property(column_family, key)
     end
 
     def add_column_family(cf)
-      @schema[cf.name.to_s] ||= OrderedHash.new 
-      @schema[cf.name.to_s]["comparator_type"] = cf.comparator_type
-      @schema[cf.name.to_s]["column_type"] = cf.column_type || "Standard"
+      @schema[cf.name.to_s] ||= OrderedHash.new
+
+      cf.instance_variables.each do |var|
+        @schema[cf.name.to_s][var.slice(1..-1)] = cf.instance_variable_get(var)
+      end
     end
 
+    def update_column_family(cf)
+      return false unless @schema.include?(cf.name.to_s)
+
+      cf.instance_variables.each do |var|
+        @schema[cf.name.to_s][var.slice(1..-1)] = cf.instance_variable_get(var)
+      end
+    end
+
+    def drop_column_family(column_family_name)
+      @schema.delete(column_family_name)
+    end
 
     private
 
diff --git a/test/cassandra_test.rb b/test/cassandra_test.rb
index 97ff762..60113ab 100755
--- a/test/cassandra_test.rb
+++ b/test/cassandra_test.rb
@@ -762,7 +762,7 @@ def test_old_get_indexed_slices
     def test_column_family_mutation
       k = key
 
-      if @twitter.schema.cf_defs.map(&:name).include?(k)
+      if @twitter.column_families.include?(k)
         @twitter.drop_column_family(k)
       end
 
@@ -773,25 +773,25 @@ def test_column_family_mutation
           :name     => k
         )
       )
-      assert @twitter.schema.cf_defs.map(&:name).include?(k)
+      assert @twitter.column_families.include?(k)
 
       if CASSANDRA_VERSION.to_f == 0.7
         # Verify rename_column_family works properly
         @twitter.rename_column_family(k, k + '_renamed')
-        assert @twitter.schema.cf_defs.map(&:name).include?(k + '_renamed')
+        assert @twitter.column_families.include?(k + '_renamed')
 
         # Change it back and validate
         @twitter.rename_column_family(k + '_renamed', k)
-        assert @twitter.schema.cf_defs.map(&:name).include?(k)
+        assert @twitter.column_families.include?(k)
       end
 
-      temp_cf_def = @twitter.schema.cf_defs.select{|cf_def| cf_def.name == k}.first
+      temp_cf_def = @twitter.column_families[k]
       temp_cf_def.comment = k
       @twitter.update_column_family(temp_cf_def)
-      assert @twitter.schema.cf_defs.map(&:comment).include?(k)
+      assert @twitter.column_families.include?(k)
 
       @twitter.drop_column_family(k)
-      assert !@twitter.schema.cf_defs.map(&:name).include?(k)
+      assert !@twitter.column_families.include?(k)
     end
   end