A beach house in Carpinteria, California | architect: George Vernon Russell | Owner: Dr. Joseph Koepfli

When an architect must grapple with a difficult site problem, he often can devise a distinctive and satisfying solution by making a virtue of the apparent drawbacks. Such an architectural approach explains the success of this seashore house at Carpinteria, California. Keeping in mind the narrowness of the plot (38' by 175') as well as the client's wishes for privacy and simple housekeeping, the architect designed a house that is really two separate parts. The main unit is a single living room which opens to the front sundeck. It contains a prefabricated metal fireplace, a kitchen section, a dining area and twin sofas. Behind the room are another sundeck, a service area and a gallery leading to two bedrooms, each of which has its own bath. A narrow deck connecting the front and rear sundecks makes it possible to go from beach to bedroom without passing through the living room. The house was built on piling to raise it above the reach of high winter tides and to enlarge the view of sand dunes and the blue Pacific. Adaptability was a virtue of the architectural design. A third bedroom could be inexpensively added above the carport. Or, if a minimum beach house had been desired, the bedroom section could have been eliminated altogether and a bath added at the rear of the living room. The wood paneled walls, lino- leum flooring and exposed-beam ceilings require little upkeep. And though neighboring houses are close by, good site planning and colorful screening devices safeguard privacy without flaunting it.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | June 1956