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

This suspended dwelling, nestled in the Hollywood Hills, was listed on the listings this week. The listing price stands at a notable $25 million.

Stewards Choice to Part With

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the property for its full 65-year history, issued a announcement regarding their resolution to sell. They expressed that the dwelling had grown increasingly challenging to upkeep.

"This residence has been the core of our lives for many years, but as we’ve aged, it has become more difficult to look after it with the care and energy it so truly merits," wrote the offspring of the original owners.

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

Modest Origins

The inception of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the first owners bought a hilly patch of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house becoming a famous representation of the city, the family often pointed out that "nobody famous ever lived here," characterizing themselves as a "working-class family living in a white-collar house."

Design Undertaking

The first design for the Stahl house was conceived during the warm season of 1956. However, many builders were initially wary to build it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the owners interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to take on the project. With assistance from the prominent Case Study program, spearheaded by a key magazine editor, the Stahls received subsidies to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "centered around innovation" and "utilizing new materials and building in places that maybe previously the engineering didn’t really enable," commented an expert from a regional conservancy. "All those things are combined into a place like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, contemporary and unthinkable in terms of how it was built on that location that everyone else thought, at the time, was not feasible."

Completion and Famous Impact

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and construction began in May 1959. According to the owners, construction cost "a mere $37,500" and the home was move-in ready by May 1960. The outcome was "a perfect representation of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the authority added.

Soon after construction was finished, a famous architectural photographer shot what is perhaps the most famous picture of the home. Taken through the full-length glass windows, the photo depicts two women sitting in the home’s living room but seeming to hover over the LA skyline.

"I think the long-standing effect of that image is due to the way it communicates an idea about living in Los Angeles, an duality about being both urban and removed from it," said a principal of an architectural firm and lecturer at a leading university.

Protected Recognition

The home has had historic cameos in movies, TV and music videos, including several popular titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city declared the Stahl house a historic-cultural landmark, and in 2013, the house was included as a preserved site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Future Custodianship

The home continues to be open for visits, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all tours are currently fully booked through February. In their release announcing the sale, the family said they would give "ample notice" before discontinuing the tours.

The listing for the home emphasizes finding a new owner who will preserve the essence of the space.

"For enthusiasts of style, supporters of architecture, or entities seeking to safeguard an national treasure, there is simply nothing comparable," the listing say. "This goes beyond a transaction; it is a passing of responsibility – a quest for the next custodian who will honor the house’s history, value its architectural purity, and ensure its preservation for future generations."

The expert affirmed that the decision of buyer would be a vital one, given the home’s past.

"I believe any time a long-term steward, and a stewardship like this, is being sold of a home like this, it always causes a little bit of a hesitation – because you never know what the next owner, what their intentions will be. And can they grasp and cherish the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"