Is the "Surf Shack" a Style of Architecture ???

Maybe -

I'm sure this is another one of those "Only in California....
would the question come up" kind of things.

BUT...

Near the City of Capitola, just to the west, is a district of Santa Cruz County called
Pleasure Point

This is one of the prime surfing spots along the Northern California Coast.

It's also the home of Jack O'Neill, the inventor of the wetsuit !!

(why is there no plaque for this guy?)

Pleasure Point has become an extremely desireable neighborhood and the prices started to skyrocket for small homes on small lots. In the heyday of the real estate boom (two years ago), that meant one million for a teardown.

Paying that kind of money meant that the character of the neighborhood changed rapidly. Some of the folks who have lived there for a long time (and loved the charm of small streets, small houses, ocean views and great surfing down the block) began to organize and complain.

How could their neighborhood character be saved? What is that character? Is the "Beach Cottage" (or "Surf Shack" as it is fondly called locally) part of that character? ......

Here are some vignettes that I prepared to begin the discussion -

the answer is ....
"neighborhood zoning"


...this is one way of grappling with the transition, but not intended to be the final answer or total solution.

. . .