They also use a green cleaning service. All three cottages have identical square footage (450) and feature rotating exhibits of paintings and photography by local artists. Each has a breakfast nook, a living room, and a bedroom, as well as a bathroom with floors made from naturally antifungal used wine corks. Cut-up license plates provide the address numbers of the cottages, each of which has a name and its own aesthetic. The Papa Hemingway Cottage is brown and beige and masculine, the sort of place to inspire pulp fiction. Le Bébé Cottage mixes midcentury modern with Rococo flourishes. Aunt Zoe’s Place is like a cheery, kitschy lake cabin. This last cottage takes its name not from a beloved aunt but from a flea-infested, undernourished dog the couple brought home from one of their junkyard trips—who in turn is named after the veterinarian who nursed her back to health. “Yes,” Foster says, “even our dog is repurposed.”

Venice Beach Eco-Cottages: 447 Grand Blvd., Venice, California; 866/802-3110; $200 per night for a three-night minimum stay (sleeps two to three people), $1,250 and up for a week; venicebeachecocottages.com. "Oldies But Goodies" originally appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Culture+Travel. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Culture+Travel's Fall 2008 Table of Contents.