In 1975 he was elected to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni at the University of Kentucky. The Alabama Historical Commission presented him in 1975 with its Award of Merit for Preservation of Alabama's Heritage for his study of Greek Revival architecture in Alabama, published by the Alabama chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1966 (and again by the Commission in 1977). In 1979, for "Vestiges of the Venerable City", he received the Lexington-Fayette County Historic Commission Preservation Award and, in the same year, the Kentucky Heritage Commission's Preservation Professional Award. In 1986, the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation presented him its John Wesley Hunt Award. In addition to the original Moses Jones hall and parlor dwelling, on the grounds of Warwick, Lancaster built several architectural follies of his own design—an eighteenth-century tea pavilion, a guest-house replicating the first-century A.D. Tower of the Winds, and an Arts and Crafts style art gallery. He also assembled an extensive acreage nearby to serve as a nature preserve, called Shantalaya ("abode of peace"). Also, in his final years, Lancaster established a charitable organization, The Warwick Foundation, to promote and extend his many interests. The foundation sponsors tours, lectures, scholarships, exhibitions, conferences, and maintains the Warwick compound as a museum. Lancaster died on Christmas Day in 2000. The following spring, his ashes were scattered in the ravine next to his Warwick residence.