We retired to Southern California in late 2003, the location choice influenced by where our children live and the usual stuff about climate. We found ourselves in a hectic real estate market on LA's west side -- our preferred location -- not the ideal situation when you want the time for an architect to look at potential purchases and consult on a possible renovation or re-build.

So we moved further down the coast and continued to monitor the LA west side real estate, looking at many new houses over the years and also potential remodels. While not our original plan, this period was helpful as we became knowledgeable about SoCal's modernist history, through house tours, readings and several enjoyable visits to Palm Springs.

More and more we found ourselves feeling that we wanted to build a modern house from scratch.