🔗 Share this article

The famous Stahl house, a quintessential example of modernist design, is up for sale for the initial occasion in its complete history.

This cantilevered dwelling, situated in the Hollywood Hills, was listed on the listings this week. The price tag stands at an impressive $25 million.

Owners Move to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have held title to the residence for its complete 65-year existence, released a declaration regarding their decision to sell. They noted that the property had grown increasingly challenging to upkeep.

"This residence has been the core of our lives for many years, but as we’ve grown older, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the dedication and vigor it so truly merits," commented the children of the initial owners.

They added that the period had come to find a new "guardian" for the house – "someone who not only recognizes its design legacy but also comprehends its role in the cultural landscape of the city and further afield."

Unassuming Inception

The beginnings of the Stahl house go back to May 1954, when the first owners bought a mountainous plot of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills area for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a renowned symbol of the city, the owners often stressed that "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a luxury house."

Architectural Undertaking

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

In November 1957, the owners met with architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to take on the project. With backing from the notable Case Study program, pioneered by a prominent magazine editor, the owners received financial aid to hire Koenig.

The modernist program "centered around innovation" and "employing new materials and constructing in places that maybe previously the engineering didn’t really permit," remarked an expert from a regional heritage organization. "All these elements are integrated into a place like the Stahl house, which was innovative, contemporary and unimaginable in terms of how it was built on that location that everyone else considered, at the time, was impossible to build."

Completion and Famous Influence

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and building started in May 1959. According to the family, construction amounted to "a mere $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The outcome was "the ultimate vision of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the specialist added.

Soon after construction was finished, a celebrated architectural photographer took what is possibly the most well-known photograph of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photograph features two women positioned in the home’s living room but seeming to levitate over the city skyline.

"I think the long-standing impact of that photo is due to the way it conveys an notion about dwelling in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both metropolitan and separate from it," said a founder of an architectural company and educator at a leading university.

Protected Recognition

The home has made historic appearances in cinema, TV and promos, including several well-known 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 listed as a preserved site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Next Custodianship

The home continues to be open for public viewings, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all slots are currently sold out through February. In their statement concerning the sale, the family stated they would give "ample notice" before stopping the tours.

The listing for the home stresses finding a buyer who will maintain the essence of the space.

"For enthusiasts of design, patrons of building, or institutions seeking to safeguard an iconic work, there is simply no equal," the description say. "This is not merely a purchase; it is a handover of custody – a quest for the next custodian who will celebrate the house’s history, value its design integrity, and guarantee its preservation for generations to come."

The authority 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 guardianship like this, is transferring hands of a property like this, it always creates a little bit of a concern – because you never know what the next owner, what their plans will be. And do they understand and appreciate the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"