Rare Photographs of Lautner’s Pensacola House

The Lautner residence in Pensacola was designed for Ernest Lautner, a cousin of John Lautner, and his wife Mildred. It was built in 1957 by Ernest, a contractor, and later sold to his son Max, who owns it still. It is maintained by Max’s nephew Stephen Lautner, who lives primarily in Atlanta.

While the house is clearly visible from the water (Bayou Texar), it is nearly hidden from the road. Not long after it was built, a photographer named Frank Hardy took these photographs of it, both from the bayou and from the air. He used a Widelux camera (see some information about this camera) while on the water, and a Hasselblad from the air. Much later, his son Frank posted some of these images on his blog. A reader sent a note to the Foundation about this blog, and we contacted the younger Frank, who kindly sent us these photographs.

See the entire album for more past and present photographs of this remarkable residence.