Driftwood Shacks
Anonymous Architecture Along the California Coast
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.
Lloyd Kahn started building more than 50 years ago and has lived in a self-built home ever since. If he’d been able to buy a wonderful, old, good-feeling house, he might have never started building. But it was always cheaper to build than to buy, and by building himself, he could design what he wanted and use materials that he wanted to live with.
Lloyd set off to learn the art of building in 1960. He liked the whole process immensely. Ideally he’d have worked with a master carpenter long enough to learn the basics, but there was never time. He learned from friends and books and by blundering his way into a process that required a certain amount of competence. His perspective was that of a novice, a homeowner, rather than a pro. As he learned, he felt that he could tell others how to build—or at least get them started on the path to creating their own homes.
Through the years, he’s personally gone from post and beam to geodesic domes to stud-frame construction. It’s been a constant learning process, and this has led him into investigating many methods of construction. For five years in the late ’60s to early ’70s, he built geodesic domes. He got into book publishing by producing Domebook One in 1970 and Domebook 2 in 1971.
He gave up on domes (as homes) and published his company’s namesake Shelter in 1973. Since then, Shelter Publications has produced books on a variety of subjects and returned to its roots with Home Work in 2004, The Barefoot Architect and Builders of the Pacific Coast in 2008, Tiny Homes in 2012, and more.
Building is Lloyd’s favorite subject. Even in this day and age, building a house with one’s own hands can save a ton of money and—if you follow it through—you can get what you want in a home.
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