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The famous Stahl house, a paragon of midcentury modern design, is now available for the first time in its entire history.

This cantilevered residence, perched in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, appeared on the market this past week. The price tag stands at a substantial $25 million.

Stewards Decision to Sell

The Stahl family, who have held title to the property for its entire 65-year timeline, shared a declaration regarding their choice to sell. They expressed that the dwelling had grown too difficult to maintain.

"This residence has been the core of our lives for decades, but as we’ve aged, it has become increasingly challenging to look after it with the care and effort it so richly deserves," commented the children of the first owners.

They continued that the time had come to find a new "steward" for the house – "someone who not only recognizes its design legacy but also understands its place in the cultural fabric of Los Angeles and further afield."

Unassuming Inception

The inception of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the first owners bought a mountainous parcel of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a famous representation of the city, the residents often emphasized that "nobody famous ever lived here," characterizing themselves as a "average family living in a luxury house."

Construction Feat

The original design for the Stahl house was created during the summer months of 1956. However, many designers were originally hesitant to build it on the challenging hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to accept the task. With backing from the prominent Case Study program, led by a key magazine editor, the owners received support to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "centered around experimentation" and "employing new building materials and erecting in sites that maybe earlier the techniques didn’t really enable," commented an specialist from a local preservation society. "Each of these factors are integrated into a property like the Stahl house, which was innovative, modern and unthinkable in terms of how it was constructed on that location that everyone else thought, at the time, was not feasible."

Completion and Cultural Influence

The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and building started in May 1959. According to the family, construction amounted to "just $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The final product was "the ultimate vision of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the specialist noted.

Soon after the build ended, a famous architectural photographer captured what is perhaps the most well-known image of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photograph depicts two women seated in the home’s living room but appearing to levitate over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I think the long-standing influence of this image is due to the way it expresses an concept about living in Los Angeles, an contrast about being both urban and separate from it," said a founder of an architectural practice and educator at a prominent university.

Cultural Recognition

The home has had memorable appearances in cinema, television and music videos, including several famous titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city designated the Stahl house a heritage site, and in 2013, the house was added as a conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Next Stewardship

The home continues to be open for tours, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all appointments are currently sold out through February. In their release concerning the sale, the family stated 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 connoisseurs of style, advocates of design, or organizations seeking to safeguard an iconic work, there is simply no parallel," the details state. "This is more than a sale; it is a transfer of stewardship – a search for the next guardian who will honor the house’s history, appreciate its architectural purity, and guarantee its protection for generations to come."

The authority affirmed that the selection of buyer would be a critical one, given the home’s legacy.

"I believe any time a original family, and a custodianship like this, is transferring hands of a home like this, it always gives us a little bit of a hesitation – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their intentions will be. And can they comprehend and cherish the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"