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The celebrated Stahl house, a quintessential example of modernist design, is currently listed for the first time in its complete history.

This cantilevered residence, situated in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, hit the listings this week. The price tag stands at an impressive $25 million.

Stewards Choice to Part With

The Stahl family, who have held title to the property for its full 65-year history, issued a declaration regarding their resolution to sell. They noted that the property had become excessively demanding to upkeep.

"This home has been the heart of our lives for many years, but as we’ve aged, it has become increasingly challenging to look after it with the attention and vigor it so richly deserves," wrote the offspring of the first owners.

They added that the time had come to find a new "guardian" for the house – "an individual who not only recognizes its architectural importance but also understands its place in the cultural history of the city and elsewhere."

Humble Beginnings

The beginnings of the Stahl house go back to May 1954, when the first owners acquired a sloped patch of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house becoming a renowned representation of the city, the owners often pointed out that "no famous individuals ever lived here," describing themselves as a "average family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Construction Feat

The original design for the Stahl house was created during the warm season of 1956. However, many designers were at first reluctant to construct it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the family consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to undertake the challenge. With assistance from the prominent Case Study program, pioneered by a prominent magazine editor, the owners received financial aid to commission Koenig.

The modernist program "was about trial and error" and "using new building materials and erecting in locations that maybe before the techniques didn’t really allow," commented an authority from a regional conservancy. "All these elements are integrated into a place like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, progressive and unthinkable in terms of how it was erected on that site that everyone else thought, at the time, was impossible to build."

Completion and Famous Influence

The Stahl house was designated Case Study house No. 22, and work commenced in May 1959. According to the family, construction cost "only $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The outcome was "an idealized version of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the expert commented.

Soon after the build ended, a celebrated architectural photographer shot what is arguably the most well-known picture of the home. Taken through the full-length glass windows, the photograph shows two women sitting in the home’s living room but seeming to levitate over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I think the long-standing impact of this photo is due to the way it expresses an notion about residing in Los Angeles, an duality about being both urban and separate from it," commented a founder of an architectural practice and educator at a prominent university.

Cultural Recognition

The home has enjoyed historic cameos in film, broadcast and videos, including several well-known titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city recognized the Stahl house a protected monument, and in 2013, the house was included as a preserved site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coming Ownership

The home is still open for visits, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all slots are currently fully booked through February. In their announcement regarding the sale, the family said they would give "plenty of advance notice" before discontinuing the tours.

The listing for the home highlights finding a buyer who will conserve the spirit of the space.

"For connoisseurs of style, patrons of building, or organizations seeking to preserve an national treasure, there is simply no parallel," the details state. "This is not merely a purchase; it is a handover of custody – a hunt for the next guardian who will celebrate the house’s past, value its design integrity, and ensure its preservation for posterity."

The specialist affirmed that the choice of buyer would be a crucial one, given the home’s legacy.

"In my view any time a original family, and a custodianship like this, is changing ownership of a property like this, it always creates a little bit of a pause – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their intentions will be. And do they grasp and cherish the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"