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The celebrated Stahl house, a paragon of modernist design, is currently listed for the initial occasion in its complete history.

This overhanging residence, nestled in the Hollywood Hills area, hit the listings this week. The price tag stands at a substantial $25 million.

Family Move to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have owned the home for its full 65-year existence, shared a declaration regarding their resolution to sell. They expressed that the dwelling had become too difficult to upkeep.

"This residence has been the core of our lives for decades, but as we’ve grown older, it has become progressively harder to look after it with the care and energy it so truly merits," commented the descendants of the first owners.

They added that the moment had come to find a new "steward" for the house – "a person who not only appreciates its architectural importance but also understands its position in the cultural landscape of LA and beyond."

Humble Inception

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

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a famous icon of the city, the residents often pointed out that "no famous individuals ever lived here," describing themselves as a "working-class family living in a luxury house."

Design Challenge

The first design for the Stahl house was developed during the summer of 1956. However, many designers were at first reluctant to construct it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the owners interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to take on the challenge. With backing from the notable Case Study program, led by a prominent magazine editor, the family received support to engage Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on trial and error" and "employing new building materials and constructing in locations that maybe earlier the technology didn’t really permit," remarked an expert from a regional preservation society. "All these elements are integrated into a site like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, modern and unimaginable in terms of how it was constructed on that location that everyone else thought, at the time, was impossible to build."

Completion and Famous Influence

The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and building commenced in May 1959. According to the family, construction cost "only $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The outcome was "an idealized version of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the authority commented.

Soon after the build ended, a famous architectural photographer shot what is perhaps the most well-known photograph of the home. Taken through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the image shows two women positioned in the home’s living room but looking to levitate over the city skyline.

"I believe the enduring effect of the image is due to the way it conveys an idea about residing in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both metropolitan and removed from it," commented a principal of an architectural firm and educator at a prominent university.

Protected Status

The home has had notable appearances in film, broadcast and videos, including several famous titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city designated 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.

Coming Ownership

The home is still open for visits, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all appointments are currently sold out through February. In their announcement concerning the sale, the family indicated they would give "ample notice" before discontinuing the tours.

The property description for the home stresses finding a purchaser who will maintain the spirit of the space.

"For connoisseurs of design, patrons of architecture, or entities seeking to safeguard an national treasure, there is simply no equal," the details say. "This is not merely a purchase; it is a transfer of stewardship – a search for the next custodian who will celebrate the house’s past, respect its design integrity, and ensure its conservation for generations to come."

The expert concurred that the decision of buyer would be a crucial one, given the home’s history.

"I think any time a long-term steward, and a custodianship like this, is transferring hands of a home like this, it always causes a little bit of a pause – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their plans will be. And will they understand and appreciate the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"