A small cabin in Stinson Beach | architect: Francis Joseph McCarthy

IN CALIFORNIA the beach is often better during fall and winter than it is during the summer. The sunshine can often be clear and bright, the air sharp and bracing. But since the days are apt to be unpredictable, you need a permanent structure to which you can retreat in case a wind kicks up, a fireplace for friendly warmth, and some kind of sheltered, walled-off trap to catch the sun.

This weekend house satisfies the needs of a year-around beach shelter with the directness of a propped-up tarpaulin. It was designed by a San Francisco architect, Francis Joseph McCarthy, for a Stinson Beach location.

A wall opens to the view of the ocean. In front of this wall is a deck surrounded by glass to shut out wind. Overhead is a partially opened roof, like the sunshine-top on an English automobile, to act as a sun trap. Shaded corners of this roof, how- ever, leave plenty of room to retreat from sun glare.

The floor of the deck has been cut away to expose a protected, natural sandbox for the owner's grandchildren.

The floor of the house, set on piles and girders, is simply a rectangular platform several feet above the natural line of the sand dunes. Constantly shifting sand makes an ever changing pattern along the edges of the house.

Although the interior of the house may appear somewhat austere, it is well suited to easy weekend maintenance. Simple, unadorned furniture, linoleum floor, pine and redwood interior trim are rugged enough to stand the constant heavy wear of sand and sea air.

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source: Cabins and Vacation Homes, Sunset Books | 1960