John Lautner - Lost Works

Lost Works

Several significant Lautner building have been destroyed or irrevocably altered since their construction, the latest as recently as 2010:

• Googie's Coffee Shop was demolished in 1989 and replaced by a mini-mall
• all the Coffee Dan's and Henry's restaurants have been demolished; the last Henry's branch was demolished in the 1980s
• the Bick Residence in Brentwood was demolished in 1990
• the Concannon Residence in Beverly Hills passed through several hands before being purchased by James Goldstein (owner of the neighbouring Sheats-Goldstein Residence), who demolished it in 2002 to build an office, nightclub, tennis court, sundeck, plexiglass-bottom infinity pool, and more, that were part of Lautner designed, but never built structures. This construction broke ground in early 2006 and continues as of late 2011.
• the Nouard Gootgeld Residence, 1167 Summit Drive, Beverly Hills (1952) was jointly built by Lautner and Gootgeld. The property was purchased by Priscilla Presley in 1974, stripped down to its structural beams and converted into a large Italianate villa
• the David Shusett House in Beverly Hills was extensively altered in later years, although it retained its basic structure. Present (2011) owners Enrique and Katalin Mannheim purchased it in 1987 and in 2010 they applied to have the house demolished to make way for new residence. Sadly, despite appeals from the Lautner Foundation, who tried to arrange for its purchase or relocation, negotiations with the Mannheim family failed and the house was destroyed in September 2010.