A modernist house, dressed up in Tuscan style by a later owner, was stripped and radically remodeled to serve as a second home that provides a serene retreat for the owners. It comprises a modestly scaled sequence of rooms on one level, screened by a tall hedge that reveals only the towers of Century City to the south. Living areas occupy one wing, which opens up to a lawn leading down to a pool. The master suite and a study occupy a second wing, set at a 90-degree angle to the first. White plaster walls, ipe wood soffits and black steel-framed windows accentuate the horizontality of the ground-hugging house and give it a crisp authority enhanced by elegant detailing. Reclaimed white oak floor boards complement the vertical-grain white oak ceiling. Motorized glass sliders open onto a covered porch, mediating between indoors and out, and affording the owners a welcome sense of openness.