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The famous Stahl house, a quintessential example of modernist architecture, is currently listed for the very first time in its entire history.

This cantilevered home, situated in the Hollywood Hills, was listed on the real estate market this recent week. The asking price stands at a substantial $25 million.

Family Decision to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have owned the home for its entire 65-year history, released a declaration regarding their choice to sell. They noted that the house had become too difficult to maintain.

"This home has been the core of our lives for many years, but as we’ve grown older, it has become progressively harder to maintain it with the dedication and energy it so truly merits," stated the children of the original owners.

They continued that the moment had come to find a new "guardian" for the house – "a person who not only appreciates its architectural significance but also understands its place in the cultural history of the city and elsewhere."

Unassuming Inception

The beginnings of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the initial owners purchased a mountainous patch of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills neighborhood for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house becoming a famous icon of the city, the owners often stressed that "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "working-class family living in a luxury house."

Design Challenge

The initial design for the Stahl house was developed during the summer months of 1956. However, many architects were at first hesitant to build it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to take on the project. With support from the influential Case Study program, spearheaded by a prominent magazine editor, the owners received financial aid to commission Koenig.

The modernist program "centered around trial and error" and "employing new resources and constructing in places that maybe previously the technology didn’t really enable," remarked an expert from a regional heritage organization. "All these elements are wrapped up into a site like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, progressive and unthinkable in terms of how it was built on that plot that everyone else thought, at the time, was not feasible."

Finalization and Iconic Legacy

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and construction began in May 1959. According to the residents, construction amounted to "just $37,500" and the home was move-in ready by May 1960. The final product was "a perfect representation of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the expert noted.

Soon after the build ended, a celebrated architectural photographer captured what is arguably the most well-known image of the home. Captured through the full-length glass windows, the photograph shows two women sitting in the home’s living room but looking to hover over the city skyline.

"In my opinion the lasting impact of this image is due to the way it expresses an notion about residing in Los Angeles, an duality about being both metropolitan and separate from it," commented a founder of an architectural firm and lecturer at a prominent university.

Protected Status

The home has made historic cameos in cinema, broadcast and promos, including several well-known titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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

Next Ownership

The home remains open for visits, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all tours are currently fully booked through February. In their statement regarding the sale, the family indicated they would give "plenty of advance notice" before ending the tours.

The listing for the home emphasizes finding a new owner who will maintain the spirit of the space.

"For collectors of design, patrons of architecture, or organizations seeking to safeguard an national treasure, there is simply nothing comparable," the details state. "This is not merely a transaction; it is a handover of custody – a search for the next custodian who will respect the house’s history, appreciate its original vision, and guarantee its preservation for generations to come."

The expert agreed that the choice of new owner would be a critical one, given the home’s past.

"I think any time a original family, and a stewardship like this, is transferring hands of a residence like this, it always creates a little bit of a pause – because you never know what the next owner, what their aims will be. And will they understand and appreciate the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"