apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Hi Josh - I have to agree with the editors that it does mostly fall into the modern catagory of architecture. You'll see similarities in plan books, although usually not exact. I've always just referred to it as "California Beach" and most people seem to know what I'm talking about when I do. If you drive thru Huntington, Laguna and Newport you'll see the basic style over and over - there used to be blocks of them that fronted the beach there - especially near the old arcade. You'll also see it as you drive north in the sections of beach towns that were built in the '60's and '70's. Not so much in the Ventura area, some in the Pismo area and a group of them in Cambria.

Please keep us posted on what/how you're doing - I miss being there so please let me live vicariously thru your photos!

Good luck with your projects!!

Is this considered a carriage house? That is a very good possiblilty but I'm not 100% on it. It looks like a modern day carriage house, space saving and a pain with lots of groceries. I can't say that I've ever heard of them having any specific style, especially as relatively modern build. More than anything, it looks like a condo barely qualifying for "retro" but I'm sure the interior is a whole new story.

DubTriptych - it's definately not a carriage house. In the beach towns in California it's not uncommon to see homes/ townhomes/condos with the living spaces built over the garage (if you're lucky enough to have a garage) and only 14 to 20 feet wide due to lot sizes. They generally are much deeper - again depending on the size of the lot.

After the "Beach Blanket" movies and surf music (Dick Dale, Jan & Dean, Beach Boys) made surfing and cruising the beach so popular, everyone wanted to live there. Lots were subdivided, prices started going up, and this was one of the most popular/economical styles of that time.

Wish we hadn't moved away...:-(

These structures don't have a lot of character - they remind me of the el-cheapo apartments that were slapped up during the same period. Very plain but somewhat awkward lines, not a lot of windows, metal frames. They even built ones in almost exactly this "California Beach" style in Phoenix when I was growing up, which I always thought was bizarre as we were 500 miles from the ocean.

One challenge with this home is (apparently) the single-aspect natural lighting. Looks like you only have windows on one side. This tends to make the rooms feel a little cave-like - low '70s popcorn ceilings don't help. This makes me think you'll want window treatments to maximize natural light - sheers, or translucent roller shades - coupled with heavier drapes when you want it darker.

Whenever I think of oceanfront homes I think of wood plank floors painted white, lots of blue and cream and white denim fabrics, whitewashed furniture with clean lines and so forth. Totally cliché, I know. The problem is I don't think any of that traditional kit would look good in a more modern building like yours. '80s minimalism might be appropriate though, if you can live with that.

People really just don't have much imagination with architecture like this.

We are remodeling and UGLY late 60's, early 70's, duplex that looks just like this. We changed out the windows, did some tricks with mullion placement. Then just cleaned the place up ... nice new kitchens, clean lined appliances, we shined up the ground floors concrete, some nice wool carpet and the place rocks ....

Ya just got to have vision!

OP here, and thank you for your help and suggestions.

I've been cramming Dwell and Coastal Living Magazines, but I'm afraid I just don't have a very high taste level for this type of stuff.

Right now, I'm thinking that the mishmash of different window treatments needs to be addressed plus some of them are already broken anyways. With those vertical lines running up the building, I think the horizontal blinds clash with that and so I'll go with some drapes or something that will repeat those vertical lines.

But, I have a very large sliding door on the other side of this unit which also needs a new window treatment. Right now, the vertical blinds for that are broken so I didn't know if I should fix them or get something different. If I get drapes for the front, then I should probably get long drapes for that sliding glass door in the back, right?

It doesn't look like it was built to last. Is it a pre-fab?

Josh - having lived with blinds, they're ok for a few years, then you're going to have to replace them - especially if you have hot, direct sun coming thru the glass on them, and/or use them a lot.

And you really don't have to use the same treatment on both ends of the house unless your room(s) are open to both ends and you want the continuity.

joshing, If you don't like the looks of horizontal blinds, here's another alternative to drapes: sliding panels. It's hard to tell from the outside, but depending on how your space feels, drapes can seem fussy or bulky (it depends, of course!). Also, not sure you have the room for the sliding fabric panels, since you'll probably want to be able to open your window coverings fully. But I think they would go well with the outside. They'd look simple and fresh, without cluttering up the lines already there.

Joshing,

I have actually been inside several of the condos where you live and I have to agree with many of the other posts, it's all very general.

With your ocean view, I know it's a bit in the distance, but you do want to maximize it without limiting privacy - especially since most of your natural light will only come from one side of the townhome (generally). Avoid blinds on the slider if you can, and yes, if you get drapes for the front of the house DEFINITELY repeat that look somehow with your slider. Or the sliding panels that Sea mentioned would be cool too.

Bottom line, you have a blank slate, find you style and go with it. I have seen so many different looks done in these homes, but to me, those that were the most minimalistic style looked the best since the interior space can be very box-like. Kept it refreshing looking while still giving the laid back feel that the area has.

OP again, and I also need to consider resale since I probably will move in a year or two anyways. Why wait till I move to spend the money to make updates;I might as well enjoy some of those updates now while I'm living there. At the same time, I'd hate to spend money on something and then find out that it was already dated or something and I need to buy new treatments.

Are vertical blinds considered dated at this point? I didn't really see them in the magazines I was looking through, but I'll see other units where I live that have them. And, the rep from 3 Day Blinds assured me that vertical blinds were still 'in' and that I just needed to get 2 inch miniblinds.