Modal Design

We worked with Daniel Monti of Modal Design to design our remodel in Venice. Daniel is creative and pragmatic, thoughtful and thorough, responsive and reflective. He turned our 1950 bungalow with small rooms and tiny closets into a light and open space. Right away, Daniel had a good understanding of what we wanted and we felt that we were all on the same page throughout the project. From the beginning, Daniel made sure he knew what our budget was, and he made sure to stick to it, even when we were tempted to overreach. We worked together to re-design our house to do as much as we could with our resources. The result is bright and airy, at once modern while still retaining its 1950s character. Daniel was always professional with us and our contractor, and he kept all of us and the project on track. He made sure we made decisions and chose materials and fixtures well in advance so our contractor was never held up waiting for us to make decisions. Daniel was willing and ready to come to site meetings, and often checked on the project when we were not around. Whenever we or the contractor had questions, Daniel responded right away. Daniel’s knowledge, judgement, skill and experience were always impressive. We valued his opinion at every point in the project. Now that it is all done, we are so very happy sitting here in our new home, writing this review for Modal Design. Five stars and no regrets.

We hired Modal Design to help us with the remodel of our house. We were hoping to give our traditional Mid-Century ranch style home a more contemporary/modern look. We found out about Modal Design from friends that were doing a large scale remodel with him and we were impressed by what we saw when we went to visit. We absolutely loved working with Modal Design. Not only is Daniel talented, professional and great at what he does, but he executed exactly the look we were hoping to achieve and stayed within our budget. We found Daniel to be extremely detailed in his approach and it is what sets him head and shoulders above the rest. We can't say enough great things about this company and our experience.

Los Angeles is full of talented architects who design beautiful modern clean projects. The ones like Daniel, who are able to use their creativity to elevate their work in unexpected ways, are rare. I gave Daniel the following directives: Rebuild a garage, put a studio for viewing art on top of it, and make it work as a guest house too. Delight and enchant me. What resulted is an amazing spece: balance, rigorous, functional, striking, and yes...enchanting. Daniel and the Modal team were with me every step of the way, making sure the project was executed with great attention to detail and according to the design vision. I look forward to seeing what this young firm accomplishes in the upcoming years.

Daniel Monti has big firm experience, which he has channelled into his own entrepreneurial company. He's eager to work, willing to stand by his opinions, and incredibly creative. He's an artist, but he's also practical. My contractor talks about his vast talent, and how Daniel and his team are always available quickly, any time we need their input. Our house is complicated and the carpentry is tricky - Daniel was asked to meld my desire for grounded, earthy, and old southwestern styles with my husband's desire for clean contemporary lines. The result is a remarkable project that is a contemporary house with huge sliding glass doors, two yards and lots of green space. The house is clad in old (old grey!) barn wood and snow fence wood from Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. Thematically, the house is all about height, and light in small rooms made to be efficient with space. It has three separate light wells that are pieces of art in themselves. The dining room is outside, not inside; soaring above it there's a bright orange, sloping, stucco light well 30 feet tall and open to the sky. He designed the ceiling above our dining table to include heating, so we can eat outside all year round here in Venice CA. In the kitchen/living area, the ceiling, like the roof, has many angles, and has intricate sloping and mitered joints. The barn wood on the high ceilings wraps up into a light well over the kitchen island, which is 18 feet long, feels huge, saves room, and makes a kitchen table unnecessary inside. The raised metal roof has crazy angles and suggests a leaning old barn, but is sleek, clean and modern. In the master bath, you can lay back and look up 20 feet through a travertine stone light well to the sky. The project is remarkable and magical. Modal Design does work that is unique. http://www.modal-design.com/projects/flower/

Five stars is not high enough of a rating for Daniel and his team. Modal Design, led by Daniel Monti, is the absolute best architectural firm my wife and I have every worked with. His design work is smart, contemporary and exceptionally thoughtful. He and his staff are an absolute delight -- highly responsive, exceptionally thorough, delightfully detailed. All calls and questions were always answered in a timely and complete manner. Daniel listened closely to all our desires and dreams and then he created a solution for our home which not only exceeded our hopes but worked within the difficult confines of the city of Malibu. Daniel was not only our architect but served as our project manager. I can say without him running the show, we would of been months behind schedule and tens of thousands of dollars over budget. He handled the most difficult of situations with grace, poise and leadership. The perfect trifecta for an architect and project manager. If you are looking for a firm with an incredible leader to create a new space, a new home or an office of your dreams, I urge you to give Daniel and his firm a call. My only regret is our project is now complete and I can't find a new project fast enough so we can all work together again.

Daniel was an absolute pleasure to work with in designing our home. He was extremely thoughtful and had the right balance of bringing his ideas and vision while incorporating our needs. Daniel's attention to detail was incredible. He has fantastic patience and is incredibly responsive. He made invaluable suggestions to keep us within our budget and demanded the highest quality work from our contractor. I am looking forward to designing and building our next home with Daniel.