BEACH HOUSE on a BLUFF
Any family fortunate enough to live near the ocean will find this house, although primarily a vacation home, is well suited to a year-round residence. Along the southern coast especially there are many such beach houses whose owners wouldn’t think of living in town.
A number of very pleasing ideas have been included here by the designer. Although this appears to be just a two-room house, there are features which make it as commodious as a four-room one at practically no additional cost. For example, the living room and bedroom are the principal parts of the house, but the terrace provides an ideal outdoor dining room, and the sun deck is just the place for sleeping out when the weather is clear.
Stucco on a wood frame sheathed with insulating board forms the outer walls, and plywood is used inside. These interior walls could be plastered, but this would cost slightly more. All windows, as well as the sliding and folding doors, have steel frames. Floors are of colored and polished concrete.
A good color combination would be white for the exterior, with all exposed woodwork, such as garage doors, stained tobacco brown. The terrace rail and the spiral stair should be tile red. Inside, the most restful finish would be flat paint in a pastel blue or green, which is easy on the eyes in a location where there is so much bright sunlight.
The owner’s bedroom, with dressing room and closet, and the bath adjoining, make a very convenient unit away from the rest of the house. A wide closet in the living room will hold one or more roll-away beds for extra guests. Also, note the spacious woodbox which can be stocked from the garage.
The dining terrace, with its decorative tree, is protected from the wind. From here the spiral staircase leads to the sun deck over the bedroom.
The fireplace is a rather necessary feature even in warm climates. It is of stucco over concrete blocks. The designer has suggested a novel idea in this connection: to insure a cool air space between the ceiling and roof in summer, a ventilator is run from the ceiling up the chimney stack.