John Lautner's building timeline

1911 Born July 16 in Marquette, Mich., to an artist-teacher and the head of German, French and social studies at a local college.

1933 Graduates with a degree in English from that college, which later became Northern Michigan University. Begins six-year apprenticeship to Frank Lloyd Wright, joining the first group of Taliesin Fellows at Wright's school in Spring Green, Wis.

1936-38 Supervises construction of two Wright projects.

1938 Moves to Los Angeles, collaborates with Wright and later establishes his own practice.

1947 Completes first major commission, Carling house in L.A., and builds Desert Hot Springs Motel. Its four units are restored in 2001 and eventually put on the market for $495,000; it's currently in escrow.

1948 Commercial commissions include a Lincoln car dealership in Glendale, and a year later, Googie's coffee shop in L.A. Some of this work later is derided by critics who see it as evidence that Lautner is all style, no substance.

1957 In Idyllwild, builds Pearlman Mountain Cabin, whose walls of glass seem to float between tree-trunk posts. Looking out from the living room, those posts virtually disappear into the surrounding landscape.

1960 Near Mulholland Drive, builds Malin residence, better known as the Chemosphere, a space-ship-shaped form perched on a single concrete column and reached by funicular.

1963 With planning process dating to 1956, largely completes the experimental Reiner residence, better known as Silvertop, in Silver Lake. Client runs out of money and must sell before moving in.

1968 Finishes two landmark houses: Elrod in Palm Springs (seen in "Diamonds Are Forever") and Stevens in Malibu, whose overlapping roof forms maximize light and air.

1969 In West L.A., wraps work on Walstrom house, which historian Nicholas Olsberg calls one of the most authentic Lautners today. "Walstrom still has the carefully made rough edges that Lautner was interested in," he says. "It still feels like the place he made."

1973 Completes Arango residence, also known as Marbrisa, which feels suspended above Acapulco Bay in Mexico. Architectural Record later calls it "earthly paradise."

1979 Completes Bob Hope's mansion, often likened to a giant mollusk or bird perched above Palm Springs, and the Segel house in Malibu, later bought by David and Courteney Cox Arquette, then Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife, Jamie.

1994 L.A. chapter of American Institute of Architects awards him a gold medal. Monograph published. Dies of heart failure Oct. 24.

Sources: Times archives, John Lautner Foundation, "Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner."