Historical Overview

It was 1946 when Fred Pearl and his partner Edward Patnaude purchased a tract of land, then desolate and brush-filled, just north of Lavallette NJ.  Two laundry deliverymen who over the next 20 years turned this tract into a vacation paradise named “Ocean Beach."  Their vision was to build affordable beach houses for working-class families.  They began by building basic one- and two-bedroom cottages that started at $2,095 and were merely four walls and a roof with no paneling or insulation. 

Sales were transacted casually; Pearl worked out of what he called his “mobile” office — which was the trunk of his car. Each business day, he set up a wooden sign along the highway that read, “Houses for Sale.” At that time, all that was required to secure your cottage was a $10 deposit and a handshake. The first sale contract was signed on July 20, 1946. 

Personal Work Statement

The cottages at Ocean Beach, some might say, are nothing more than glorified trailers, laid out in a symmetrical grid over three sections that total over 2,000 units.  The streets, still made up of sand in Unit III, adds to the sparse and strong sense of place.  There is little vegetation that thrives in this environment made up of sand, wind, and salt.

Photographing there in the off season offers a surreal feeling in its quietness and allows me to de-contextualize the cottages from their vacation purpose.  From a formal perspective, colors, geometric shapes, and spatial relationships are studied.  Here color helps to create individuality among uniformity.  Emotionally, there are strong sub-texts of memory, identity, and time.                 

The interiors have hardly any personal items or decorations creating an abstract time stamp and few clues as to who the owners are.  Most cottages are rented on a weekly basis in the summer thus making them into semi-public spaces, similar to hotel rooms.  The bedrooms are utilitarian in nature and minimal in size.  I am drawn to the horizontal windows that match the camera frame but won't hold an air conditioning unit. 

This project is a personal journey and study of a unique place in the American landscape that appeals to my vernacular taste, intuitive work process, and sense of style and order.