Lautner’s Castle Restored: Midcentury Los Angeles Gem by Conner Perry

Lautner’s Castle, John Lautner’s late-modern hillside residence, is undergoing a careful restoration by Conner + Perry Architects that began in 2019.

This article examines how the Los Angeles firm updated the home—one of Lautner’s more than 200 projects—preserving its material language while integrating contemporary comfort and efficiency.

Lautner, trained under Frank Lloyd Wright, designed with a deep regard for site, material honesty, and the dialogue between human use and nature.

Architectural Restoration and Material Story

Conner + Perry salvaged and refined the house’s stone, steel, glass, and warm woods palette.

They left most of the original expression intact while renewing the building envelope and mechanical systems.

The team reimagined structural details integral to Lautner’s style, such as the cylindrical stone turrets that anchor the composition and organize the program.

Key Design Features and Material Palette

• The stone cylindrical turrets serve as both structure and living space, housing features like a wet bar and pantry.
• The roof was replaced, and Douglas fir panels were refinished to age with the rest of the house. Copper details atop beams add patina across the timber frame.
• A dramatic linear LED installation with wood-veneer fins lights the exposed timber ceilings.
• Chrome eyeball lights enrich the entry’s orientation and depth.
• Interior updates were minimal and reversible, including replacing chevron wood floors and preserving an earlier kitchen renovation by a Lautner associate.
• Modern amenities are integrated discreetly: skylights, color-adapting LEDs, a hidden A/V system with projection screen, and upgraded plumbing fixtures such as a custom Corian soaking tub and a carved double-bowl sink from a single boulder.

Spatial Drama and Modern Interventions

The composition emphasizes canyon and city views framed between the stone cylinders.

There are two terraced balconies and a new lower-level deck carved beneath the pool that cantilevers from the hillside.

Bedrooms are brightened by enlarging corner windows and refined millwork.

An underused storage closet is converted into a cabana bathroom beside an outdoor shower.

• Framed canyon and city views between stone cylinders
• Two terraced balconies and a cantilevered pool deck
• Enlarged corner windows and tailored millwork
• Repurposed storage closet into cabana bathroom adjacent to an outdoor shower
• Discrete integration of modern systems to preserve the original cadence of spaces

Landscape Integration and Conservation Ethos

Landscape interventions extend architecture into the site with microclimates and native plantings. The design features a cactus front garden, bougainvillea color, and outdoor living areas.

These outdoor spaces include an infinity wooden deck and a fire pit. Conner + Perry balanced modern family needs with a conservationist approach.

They honored Lautner’s focus on the relationship between people, space, and nature.

 
Here is the source article for this story: Lautner’s Castle is a midcentury Los Angeles gem refreshed for the 21st century