Book excerpt: The Modern Californian Beach House catalogues the eclectic and always original modernist beach house architecture of Patrick Killen, founder of studio 9 one 2. Killen helped introduce serious modern design to the Los Angeles beach communities in the mid-80s, which at the time was a crazy quilt of fantasy structures all built on postage-stamp sized lots . The projects featured in this collection span Killen's stellar career, from the Shearin House, which established modernism as a viable architectural motif on the western edge of Los Angeles, to 139 Hermosa Avenue, a definitive and welcome statement of modernity amid a sea of ramshackle and derelict LA beachside structures. Killen's beach houses have added another textural element to the architectural stewing pot that is beachside LA. He is committed to modernism, which he claims is the architecture of our time , and his architecture reflects a regionalism and humour that encapsulates the California lifestyle.