Sometimes the most fruitful journeys are the ones that begin without a fixed destination. Consider the finely tailored modernist house that the Los Angeles architecture firm Woods + Dangaran designed for a real estate developer in the cityâs Mar Vista neighborhood. Uniquely responsive to the exigencies of its site at the crest of a sloping hillside, the striking residence should finally put to rest the old canard that modernism is somehow inimical to warmth and comfort. âOur client is a true collaborator. He didnât have a preconceived idea of what this house should be,â explains W+D partner Brett Woods. âHe was interested in our process, and he had enough faith in us to let the design emerge organically from that process.â