WHEN the W. F. Severins moved to Neskowin, they bought a view lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This was in 1945, when wartime restrictions made it impossible to build their dream house. Nevertheless, there was an acute housing shortage in Neskowin, just as there was in every other part of the United States
Mr. Severin, an architectural designer, readily assures admiring callers that this is no feat of magic but good, common-sense planning. "The job was done when supplies were hardest to get," he explains. "We had to adapt to our needs whatever material could be found. Furthermore, since this was a temporary residence, we had to keep costs down to a minimum."
For economy's sake, bathroom and sleeping quarters were kept in one wing, the kitchen in the other. By bringing the floor, on the south side of the central area, out flush with the west wing, 80 square feet were added to the new livingroom space allowing room for a small, recessed porch, too. The window wall has already proved its worth structurally, having withstood the pounding of a 60 mile-a-minute gale.
Finishing the interiors was done almost exclusively with odds and ends. To plaster, plywood and random-width boards, the owners added common brick and materials with interesting natural finishes, such as bamboo bats, rattan matting, and burlap. All of these materials were ingeniously combined to carry out what might be termed a modified Chinese-modern motif.
A semifloating wall was used to partition off the bathroom and sleeping section from the living room. In this wall, Mr. Severin built a guest closet, drawers for linen, and a drop-leaf desk. At the opposite end of the living room another wall, recessed at top, screens off kitchen and dining areas. A fireplace forms part of this wall. The small kitchen was carefully planned to save a maximum amount of space and improve efficiency. Over the sink a wide window frames the ocean view, while above the drainboards and counters, the cupboards have shelves of graduated widths, widest at top, narrowest at bottom. The bedroom sizes can be changed by the use of a convenient movable wall between. When overnight guests arrive, walls are moved and, presto, two rooms of equal size are created. When no guests are at the house, the bedroom is made larger and the leftover smaller space is used as a den.
Shingles of the roof have been colored chartreuse and are laid in wavy lines. The window frames, front door, and trim are white, a crisp, clean foil for the weather-beaten siding. Front door, window frames, louvers and outside surface of mullions are white. On their inner surfaces, close to the panes, the exterior mullions are painted the same color as the interior woodwork. The garden has not been created as a separate unit but, rather, as a component part of a single project.
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