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The celebrated Stahl house, a epitome of mid-century modern architecture, is now available for the very first time in its entire history.

This overhanging home, perched in the Hollywood Hills area, hit the real estate market this week. The price tag stands at a substantial $25 million.

Stewards Choice to Sell

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

"This home has been the core of our lives for decades, but as we’ve grown older, it has become more difficult to look after it with the attention and vigor it so richly deserves," commented the descendants of the initial owners.

They added that the time had arrived to find a new "custodian" for the house – "someone who not only recognizes its design legacy but also grasps its place in the cultural fabric of the city and beyond."

Unassuming Inception

The inception of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the first owners bought a sloped plot of land in the at the time undeveloped Hollywood Hills neighborhood for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house becoming a well-known symbol of the city, the owners often emphasized that "no celebrities ever lived here," describing themselves as a "average family living in a luxury house."

Construction Feat

The original design for the Stahl house was conceived during the warm season of 1956. However, many builders were originally reluctant to erect it on the difficult hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to take on the project. With assistance from the influential Case Study program, led by a key magazine editor, the family received support to hire Koenig.

The progressive program "focused on innovation" and "employing new materials and building in places that maybe before the engineering didn’t really enable," commented an expert from a regional conservancy. "All these elements are combined into a place like the Stahl house, which was innovative, progressive and unimaginable in terms of how it was constructed on that location that everyone else believed, at the time, was impossible to build."

Completion and Famous Legacy

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and work started in May 1959. According to the residents, construction amounted to "just $37,500" and the home was move-in ready by May 1960. The result was "the ultimate vision of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the specialist added.

Soon after the build ended, a renowned architectural photographer captured what is perhaps the most well-known photograph of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photograph features two women seated in the home’s living room but seeming to float over the LA skyline.

"In my opinion the lasting effect of the image is due to the way it expresses an notion about living in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both in the city and separate from it," said a founder of an architectural practice and educator at a prominent university.

Historic Recognition

The home has enjoyed memorable features in movies, broadcast and videos, including several popular 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 conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coming Custodianship

The home remains open for visits, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all tours are currently reserved through February. In their statement concerning the sale, the family said they would give "sufficient warning" before discontinuing the tours.

The sales details for the home emphasizes finding a purchaser who will conserve the character of the space.

"For enthusiasts of design, patrons of design, or institutions seeking to preserve an national treasure, there is simply no parallel," the listing say. "This is more than a purchase; it is a transfer of stewardship – a quest for the next custodian who will respect the house’s legacy, appreciate its architectural purity, and guarantee its conservation for posterity."

The expert agreed that the selection of purchaser would be a crucial one, given the home’s history.

"I think any time a long-term steward, and a stewardship like this, is transferring hands of a property like this, it always gives us a little bit of a pause – because you never know what the next owner, what their plans will be. And do they comprehend and appreciate the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"