Overlooking the shimmering waters of the Pacific, the beach houses of California are as spectacular as the coastal paradise they adorn. Their allure is one of relaxed glamour, their possession an American dream. California Beach Houses leads readers on a private tour of over 25 of the state's most fashionable homes. Enter a nautical-themed cabin perched in the coastal hills of Mendocino, a sprawling mansion on the beach of Malibu, or the chic, renovated motor home of a Los Angeles designer in Venice Beach. With over 200 lavish, full-color images by Architectural Digest photographer Mark Darley, an informative text by Pilar Viladas, and a foreword by Interior Design editor Stanley Abercrombie, this lovely volume captures the dreamy elegance of some of California's most stylish interiors.

The Modern Californian Beach House catalogues the eclectic and always original modernist beach house architecture of Patrick Killen, founder of studio 9 one 2. Killen helped introduce serious modern design to the Los Angeles beach communities in the mid-80s, which at the time was a crazy quilt of fantasy structures all built on postage-stamp sized lots . The projects featured in this collection span Killen's stellar career, from the Shearin House, which established modernism as a viable architectural motif on the western edge of Los Angeles, to 139 Hermosa Avenue, a definitive and welcome statement of modernity amid a sea of ramshackle and derelict LA beachside structures. Killen's beach houses have added another textural element to the architectural stewing pot that is beachside LA. He is committed to modernism, which he claims is the architecture of our time , and his architecture reflects a regionalism and humour that encapsulates the California lifestyle.

This first survey of the glamorous beachfront lifestyle for which Southern California has become famous profiles 25 houses, each of which reflects a different facet of life on the beach. Specific architectural styles are discussed, and more than 150 color photos feature exteriors, interiors, and general beach locations.

Domestic architecture and interior design.

Beach houses are the ideal getaway homes. Selected from the pages of Fine Homebuilding, this book provides inspiration for anyone dreaming of such a home, plus practical guidance for designing and building in this often-challenging environment. Chosen for their variety of styles and settings, these outstanding examples range from Northwest eclectic in Seattle to an elegant houseboat in Rhode Island, from the quintessential California beach house to an oceanfront classic in Nantucket, and from a kick-back Floridian cottage to a charming Canadian retreat. Throughout the book, photographs, floor plans, drawings, and expert building information give a full picture of the possibilities.--From publisher description.

This inspiring and beautiful book takes the reader on a journey of 35 of the most recent homes designed by Bassenian/Lagoni Architects of Newport Beach, CA. From an Early California home in Coto de Caza to a California Cottage on Balboa Peninsula to an Old World Tuscan Adaptation in Rancho Santa Fe, this colleciton reveals some of the finest examples of what admirings critics are calling The New California Tradition in American Housing.

Lloyd Kahn has been hiking and camping on Northern California beaches for the last dozen or so years and, given his background in publishing books on building, it's only natural that he would notice the unique and whimsical beach shacks constructed by anonymous builders. Here are some 60 structures, shaped by materials lying on the beach, and ephemeral in the sense that they are built without nails, and don't last long -- victims of wind, waves, and high tides. (All of the ones depicted are now gone.) There are also photos of beach sculptures, seaweed, seashells, birds, sea lions, whalebones, waves, surfers, fishermen, and sunsets, as well as photos from a 3-day backpacking trip along the remote "Lost Coast." A book for beachcombers and beach lovers everywhere, all of whom share a deep love for the ocean and its surroundings.