Sunset, Anchor Bay

 Anchor Bay (West Side)

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The general store was the main feature of the town and the destination of most visitors both tourists and locals. In was located on the East side of State Hwy 1, and faced onto a strip commercial development across the Highway that itself backed on to stunning views of the pacific. It sold everything, and most days you could be sure to meet friends there for a chat, or swing by to catch someone that you had been wanting to see. The tenants had an old ship's bell, so that set the tone of the design - a bell tower and an arcade for sitting and chatting out of the sun. The idea was to create a focal point to the horizontal sweep of thje road and the shops - a marker that would encourage tourists to stop and linger (Summer trourism being a major economic factor in the area). The design was rather simple - a tower over the store entrance flanked by a loggia stretching along the face of the building in either direction to establish a visual theme that might be replicated elsewhere in the town.

Preliminary Elevation 

Construction got under was. In this image it is possible to still see the old facede of the store with its painted sign. 

Early Construction

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Construction proceeded and slowly the new storefront began to emerge.

Construction continues 

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Eventually the project reached completion. The old facade was faced in rough-sawn redwood board and batten.

Finished Elevation

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Viewfrom the South

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Night time, the tower was illuminated. Over the years, the redwood timbers weathered into a darker, more robust and enduring look.

Night View                The Arcade (later) 

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The arcade was also extended both North and South along the whole facade of the commercial development

View from South (1990) 

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View from the North (1990)

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Night time Facade

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The 1990s were years of significant change along the Coast, as the original community of loggers, retired academics, fishermen, artists and hippies were gradually joined and thenpartially replaced by newcomers from the city, building holiday cottages and second homes. The results of this transformation can be seen in images of the Anchor Bay Store shown below and taken over a fourteen year time difference.

1990 Tower                     2006 Tower

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Slowly, over the years, the basic theme began to exert itself on the whole town, and to become increasingly more 'upmarket' as the hippies, loggers and farmers of the 1970s gave way to the newcomers of the new milennium with their city aesthetics, replacing the rough and rustic roughsawn exterior with colour and urban style and looking strangely, I now realise, increasingly like the original elevation drawing that I did in 1975. I have to say in retrospect that I now prefer its older, rougher and more informal quality, but perhaps that is merely personal nostalgia for a timne and feriends now past.

View from the North 2006

View of the Whole East Side 

The image has lately become the object of postcards and tee shirts - commodity items for the passing tourists who believe that it is the way the town has always been. It was an enjoyable project and one that connected me quickly to the other members of the small community where I made lifelong friendships. Anchor Bay still retains a place in my heart, fused with memories of a simpler, warmer, more caring time.

View from South

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