🔗 Share this article

The famous Stahl house, a epitome of modernist architecture, is up for sale for the initial occasion in its entire history.

This cantilevered home, situated in the Hollywood Hills area, hit the market this recent week. The asking price stands at a notable $25 million.

Stewards Move to Part With

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the home for its complete 65-year existence, shared a declaration regarding their choice to sell. They expressed that the property had grown increasingly challenging to care for.

"This home has been the heart of our lives for decades, but as we’ve aged, it has become more difficult to look after it with the care and energy it so rightfully warrants," stated the children of the first owners.

They further stated that the period had arrived to find a new "custodian" for the house – "an individual who not only appreciates its architectural importance but also comprehends its role in the cultural fabric of Los Angeles and elsewhere."

Unassuming Beginnings

The inception of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the first owners acquired a hilly plot of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a renowned icon of the city, the owners often stressed that "no celebrities ever lived here," characterizing themselves as a "average family living in a white-collar house."

Design Feat

The initial design for the Stahl house was developed during the warm season of 1956. However, many architects were initially wary to construct it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls met with architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to undertake the challenge. With support from the notable Case Study program, pioneered by a leading magazine editor, the family received subsidies to commission Koenig.

The progressive program "was about experimentation" and "utilizing new building materials and constructing in sites that maybe earlier the engineering didn’t really enable," stated an authority from a regional heritage organization. "Each of these factors are wrapped up into a property like the Stahl house, which was innovative, contemporary and inconceivable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else thought, at the time, was impossible to build."

Completion and Famous Impact

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

Soon after construction was finished, a famous architectural photographer took what is possibly the most well-known photograph of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photo shows two women positioned in the home’s living room but appearing to float over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I believe the lasting influence of the image is due to the way it communicates an idea about dwelling in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both metropolitan and separate from it," commented a founder of an architectural company and educator at a prominent university.

Protected Designation

The home has enjoyed historic appearances in movies, television and promos, including several famous titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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

Next Ownership

The home remains open for public viewings, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all appointments are currently sold out through February. In their announcement regarding the sale, the family said they would give "plenty of advance notice" before discontinuing the tours.

The sales details for the home highlights finding a new owner who will conserve the character of the space.

"For enthusiasts of style, advocates of building, or organizations seeking to preserve an American masterpiece, there is simply no equal," the details read. "This goes beyond a sale; it is a handover of custody – a hunt for the next guardian who will respect the house’s past, value its architectural purity, and guarantee its preservation for posterity."

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

"I think any time a long-term steward, and a guardianship like this, is changing ownership of a home like this, it always gives us a little bit of a pause – because you never know what the next owner, what their intentions will be. And can they comprehend and cherish the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"