Austin, Texas story
The Driskill's Portrait Busts and LBJ's Second Home
Discover the historic Driskill Hotel, from its 1886 origins under a cattle baron to its status as Lyndon B. Johnson's political second home.
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Look up at the Driskill's grand facade, and you might notice that the cattle baron who built it is still watching the street. Back in 1886, Jesse Driskill conceived this Romanesque-style masterpiece. To make his mark permanent, he had unknown Italian craftsmen carve limestone portrait busts of himself and his two sons to crown the hotel's exterior.
Since then, this landmark—the oldest operating hotel in Austin—has been deeply intertwined with Texas political life. It has hosted grand gubernatorial inaugural balls, but its most famous regular was President Lyndon B. Johnson.
LBJ treated the hotel as a political and social base, a place so central to his life that it became known as his second home. As you walk past, imagine the decades of deals struck and celebrations held under the watchful eyes of the Driskill family busts.
Updated June 2026