Seaworthy planning in this 1,200 square foot beach house fits it for fun and recreation. It centers around a lanai-terrace which is partly roofed, partly covered by an egg-crate trellis. Entering the house through this terrace you find a wing for living-dining space and kitchen on one side, a bedroom wing like a series of cabañas on the other side. The center lanai can separate the two wings of the house for privacy or it can unite them completely for a house-wide party.
Floor-to-ceiling sliding sash opens one entire wall of the living room to this outdoor room and the sleeping quarters in the opposite wing are just as adaptable. Three bedrooms facing the lanai have sliding glass doors which you can pull aside instantly to transform the rooms into cabañas opening on the terrace. A rectangular planting bed in the middle of the terrace holds potted plants or ground cover. They bring cool greenness and color on sunny days, and need minimum maintenance. The bedroom wing not only opens on the lanai but gives direct access to the beach.
Three bedrooms have built-in furnishings and are planned for easy upkeep. Owners or guests can leave their rooms to sun bath or swim and return to the house without tracking sand or water through any living area. In fact they can step right into their bathroom showers from outside the house before entering their rooms. Two of the bedrooms can be combined into one large room by pushing back the accordion folding wall between them. A fourth bedroom, separated from the lanai- terrace, is intended for a maid's room or could be used for the guest who likes seclusion. A general storage room, for use when the house is shut up, and a carport complete the bedroom wing. The living wing acts as one room but is partly divided by a chimney with a two-way fireplace.
The open plan gives the dining area a view of the lanai and enlarges it visually. It also looks out on an outdoor plant bed. The living room, generous in size, is extended by a sun deck as well as by the lanai. The barbecue on the deck uses the same chimney as the fireplace. The kitchen, designed for efficiency like a ship's galley, can serve the bedroom wing, the lanai-terrace or the living- dining room with equal ease since it is centrally placed. Exterior walls of the house are a combination of weatherproof plywood and corrugated Transite. Interiors are wallboard. Walls are built on a concrete slab laid on the ground. This slab, integrally colored, forms the floor outdoors. It could be left this way indoors also or hard surface floor coverings could be applied. The flat roof is covered by built-up roofing. Blue and white trim, shown, or sea green and white are clean, crisp color schemes.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | June 1952
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