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The celebrated Stahl house, a epitome of modernist design, is now available for the first time in its entire history.

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

Owners Move to Part With

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the property for its entire 65-year history, released a statement regarding their choice to sell. They noted that the house had proven too difficult to care for.

"This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve aged, it has become more difficult to look after it with the attention and vigor it so truly merits," commented the descendants of the initial owners.

They continued that the period had come to find a new "steward" for the house – "someone who not only values its design legacy but also understands its place in the cultural landscape of LA and further afield."

Humble Inception

The beginnings of the Stahl house go back to May 1954, when the initial owners purchased a sloped patch of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a well-known icon of the city, the family often emphasized that "nobody famous ever lived here," characterizing 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 months of 1956. However, many builders were originally reluctant to erect it on the difficult hillside.

In November 1957, the owners consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to undertake the task. With backing from the notable Case Study program, spearheaded by a leading magazine editor, the family received subsidies to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "was about experimentation" and "utilizing new resources and constructing in sites that maybe before the technology didn’t really allow," remarked an expert from a local heritage organization. "All these elements are integrated into a place like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, modern and unthinkable in terms of how it was built on that plot that everyone else believed, at the time, was not feasible."

Finalization and Iconic Influence

The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and construction started in May 1959. According to the residents, construction totaled "a mere $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The final product was "the ultimate vision of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the authority added.

Soon after the build ended, a famous architectural photographer shot what is arguably the most iconic picture of the home. Taken through the full-length glass windows, the photo depicts two women seated in the home’s living room but seeming to hover over the LA skyline.

"In my opinion the long-standing influence of this image is due to the way it communicates an notion about dwelling in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both urban and separate from it," stated a head of an architectural firm and adjunct professor at a leading university.

Protected Status

The home has made notable cameos in movies, television and music videos, including several popular titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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

Future Ownership

The home continues to be open for public viewings, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all tours are currently reserved through February. In their release concerning the sale, the family stated they would give "plenty of advance notice" before discontinuing the tours.

The listing for the home stresses finding a purchaser who will conserve the character of the space.

"For collectors of style, patrons of architecture, or institutions seeking to safeguard an national treasure, there is simply no equal," the details read. "This is not merely a sale; it is a transfer of stewardship – a hunt for the next custodian who will celebrate the house’s legacy, value its architectural purity, and ensure its conservation for posterity."

The expert concurred that the selection of new owner would be a vital one, given the home’s legacy.

"I believe any time a original family, and a custodianship like this, is being sold of a residence like this, it always gives us a little bit of a hesitation – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their aims will be. And will they understand and appreciate the house, as in this unique case the Stahl family has?"