The Way We Live

This book marries Stafford Cliff’s unerring eye with the remarkable photography of Gilles de Chabaneix to present a marvellous portrayal of the delights of living by the world's oceans, a catalogue of opportunities for getting the best out of a life by and on the sea, reflected in the following sections. Seaside Architecture surveys many types of building specifically associated with the sea; holiday villas in France; stone cottages in Scottish fishing villages; beach huts in Mexico; cabins in the Caribbean; new apartment developments in California. The Extended Aspect is a richly illustrated account of how seaside and seafront dwellers have approached the problem of linking homes with the sea itself: terraces, decking, jetties, platforms and private beaches. Seaside Colours & Materials looks in close detail and in a wide variety of contexts (including some inland) at the creative use of the colours, materials and textures we traditionally associate with the sea: whites, blues, greens, bleached wood, pebbled effects, dappled glass. Washed Up treats of the accidental aspects of a seaside life: opportunities to use the rich pickings of the seashore and coastal waters to practical and decorative effect – the flotsam and the fruits of the sea. Life Afloat, the final chapter, is a sequence of images of the ultimate experiences of living by the sea: from houses actually built out over the water to life aboard private boats. Every opportunity to make cross-cultural comparisons and connections is taken within this book and all sections are fully cross-referenced and indexed, so that the whole is effectively a dynamic compilation of solutions to creating one’s own place by the sea.