A family treasure finds a new home at the Butler School of Music

A Steinway grand piano with deep ties to the Johnson family has found a new home at the Butler School of Music, where it will be preserved as both a historic artifact and a functioning instrument.

The piano, donated by Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson, has traveled through decades of family, political and Austin history. Built in February 1929, the Steinway & Sons Model M is a William and Mary-style art case piano, with six legs and an unusually ornate design. The case was designed by Eric Gugler, who also designed the Steinway piano currently in the White House.

For Johnson, the piano’s story begins at The Elms, the Washington, D.C., home her parents purchased after the 1960 election so they could entertain on behalf of the Kennedy administration. The home’s previous owner, Pearl Mesta, insisted the residence deserved its grand piano. When the Johnsons finally moved in, the piano was waiting for them with a red bow and a note: “You win!”

Johnson recalled that the piano became “the centerpiece of our Vice Presidential home,” and later, after the family returned to Texas, it remained at the center of gatherings at Austin’s historic Norwood Tower. “The piano was the heart of our entertainment for political, philanthropic and family celebrations for over 20 years,” she wrote in a narrative history she provided to the school. “It was my therapist — our comfort and our joy in times of trial and times of triumph.”

At the Butler School, the piano will be used sparingly for special salon-style concerts while receiving conservation-level care. Andrew Edwards, head piano technician at Butler, who is working on the piano’s preservation, said the school is balancing its role as a museum-worthy object with its life as “a functioning piece of art.”

For Johnson, UT was the natural home for this historic instrument. “We are forever grateful that our beloved UT will be its forever guardian,” she wrote.