🔗 Share this article

The celebrated Stahl house, a paragon of mid-century modern architecture, is up for sale for the very first time in its entire history.

This overhanging residence, situated in the Hollywood Hills area, hit the listings this recent week. The listing price stands at a notable $25 million.

Owners Move to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have held title to the property for its complete 65-year history, released a announcement regarding their decision to sell. They stated that the house had become too difficult to upkeep.

"This house has been the center of our lives for many years, but as we’ve aged, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the care and vigor it so richly deserves," commented the descendants of the initial owners.

They continued that the time had arrived to find a new "guardian" for the house – "someone who not only appreciates its architectural significance but also grasps its role in the cultural history of LA and elsewhere."

Modest Origins

The inception of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the initial owners purchased a hilly plot of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills area for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a famous symbol of the city, the owners often emphasized that "no celebrities ever lived here," describing themselves as a "working-class family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Design Undertaking

The first design for the Stahl house was created during the summer of 1956. However, many designers were initially wary to erect it on the challenging hillside.

In November 1957, the family interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to take on the task. With backing from the influential Case Study program, pioneered by a key magazine editor, the owners received subsidies to commission Koenig.

The progressive program "centered around trial and error" and "using new building materials and building in places that maybe earlier the technology didn’t really permit," stated an expert from a regional preservation society. "All those things are combined into a site like the Stahl house, which was innovative, contemporary and inconceivable in terms of how it was constructed on that site that everyone else believed, at the time, was unbuildable."

Finalization and Iconic Impact

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and work commenced in May 1959. According to the owners, construction amounted to "a mere $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The outcome was "an idealized version of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the authority noted.

Soon after the build ended, a celebrated architectural photographer shot what is arguably the most iconic photograph of the home. Captured through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the image depicts two women sitting in the home’s living room but appearing to float over the city skyline.

"I believe the long-standing influence of this photo is due to the way it conveys an idea about dwelling in Los Angeles, an duality about being both in the city and detached from it," stated a founder of an architectural firm and lecturer at a prominent university.

Protected Designation

The home has made memorable cameos in cinema, TV and music videos, including several famous titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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

Future Ownership

The home is still open for visits, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all appointments are currently reserved through February. In their release announcing the sale, the family indicated they would give "sufficient warning" before discontinuing the tours.

The listing for the home emphasizes finding a purchaser who will maintain the essence of the space.

"For connoisseurs of style, patrons of building, or organizations seeking to safeguard an iconic work, there is simply no equal," the description read. "This is not merely a sale; it is a handover of custody – a quest for the next guardian who will honor the house’s past, respect its original vision, and guarantee its conservation for posterity."

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

"I think any time a original family, and a stewardship like this, is being sold of a home like this, it always causes a little bit of a concern – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their plans will be. And can they understand and value the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"