Founded more than a hundred years ago on what was then a secluded
stretch of the southern California shore, Sunset Beach has always
marched to the beat of adifferent drummer.
Like many coast communities, Sunset Beach’s residential architecture is a mishmash of different styles, especially homes that are perched directly on the sand. The same can be said for the majority of structures along Pacific Coast Highway, the town’s main drag.
But one style does stand out from the rest — a fun, funky, thoroughly American style called Novelty architecture. The exterior and interior design can be just about anything that comes to the imagination, but the defining factor of Novelty is a usable building with an eccentric form.
Sunset Beach’s most outstanding example of Novelty —and probably the town’s most prominent landmark — is the Watertower House at the corner of PCH and Anderson Street. Built in the late 1800s as an actual water tower to serve trains chugging between LA and San Diego, the redwood structure was converted into a totally offbeat residential unit in the 1980s and is available for vacation rentals today. With its red clapboard frame and striped awnings, Harbor House Cafe looks like it was plucked off Route 66 and plunked down beside the ocean. The antique diner also features hand-painted murals, a bright yellow telephone booth and hordes of Hollywood memorabilia.
THERE IS APERMANENT VACATION VIBE IN SUNSET BEACH. THE VARIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL STYLES REFLECTS THIS SPIRIT.
