An important goal of The John Lautner Foundation is assuring the preservation of John Lautner buildings. A first step toward this goal is to obtain cultural or historical monument status for eligible Lautner buildings. This status serves as notice that the building is significant and it is not appropriate – and in some cases illegal – to make major changes to it. The status has benefits for the owner as well. The effectiveness of this form of protection generally extends only to how effective local protection ordinances are, however. The Foundation therefore is working with government agencies to assure that these agencies are aware of the value of Lautner buildings within their jurisdiction and to assist them in revising deficient ordinances.
Los Angeles’ Listed Properties.
Fortunately, some forward-thinking owners have already obtained cultural-historical monument status. In Los Angeles, the following Lautner residences have been listed:
| Date Listed | Building | Monument No. |
| 06/21/1988 | Sheats Apartments | LA-362 |
| 03/23/1990 | Mauer Residence | LA-481 |
| 11/12/1991 | Midtown School | LA-553 |
| 08/12/1991 | Chemosphere Residence | LA-785 |
| 12/14/2005 | Goldstein Office | LA-829 |
| 09/27/2006 | Wolff Residence | LA-852 |
| 12/05/2007 | Harpel Residence Hollywood | LA-896 |
National Register of Historic Places
Two Cal Poly professors and their students worked, with assistance from the Foundation, to obtain National Register status for eight Lautner residences. An application for all eight was approved by the State Historical Resources Commission on January 29, 2016, and the Keeper of the National Register listed the properties on April 19, 2016.
The eight residences are
The John & Mary Lautner House: https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000172.htm
The Foster Carling House: https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000168.htm
The Schaffer House:
https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000174.htm
The Harvey House:
https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000171.htm
The Harpel (Hollywood) House: https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000170.htm
The Pearlman Mountain Cabin: https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000173.htm
The Elrod House: https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000169.htm
The Walstrom House:
https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000175.htm
Judy, John Sanchez-Chew from Pismo Beach. 2007, I moved to Simi Valley… Currently, the company where I am currently at, we are working on one of your Mr. Lauters house. We are doing an addition as per his design…
I always wondered where you had gone…Good speed to you….
John Sanchez-Chew
The current owner of Silvertop apparently thinks that it’s OK to have a Las Vegas esque light display facing east on a nightly basis. I live on the opposite side of Silver Lake looking west and am treated to this ostentatious light pollution almost every night. I don’t think that the original concept of Silvertop included such a glitzy display.
Hello my name is Jacquelyn 🙂
Im living in Germany and I am currently writing an essay about the architecture of John Lautner. I already found a couple books about Lautner, but they are all written about his houses and there is barely any information i can find about him self. So i wanted to ask if there is any way you could provide some information about him and his life or if you have any recommendations about other websites or books.
Thank you very much
Jacquelyn Scheurenbrand
I’m in la on jan 10th and going back to Austria, is there a bookshop, where i can buy the lautner book?
Hello there, I wondered if there would be planned a new tour in August/September 2023? Would love to plan my travel schedule around it to be able to visit these architectural masterpieces. Best, Leon
Please contact Eleanor Schrader at eleanorschrader @ roadrunner dot com.