🔗 Share this article

The celebrated Stahl house, a paragon of midcentury modern architecture, is now available for the very first time in its whole history.

This cantilevered home, perched in the Hollywood Hills area, was listed on the market this past week. The asking price stands at a substantial $25 million.

Owners Choice to Part With

The Stahl family, who have held title to the residence for its complete 65-year existence, issued a announcement regarding their resolution to sell. They expressed that the dwelling had become too difficult to upkeep.

"This residence has been the center of our lives for a long time, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become progressively harder to care for it with the dedication and energy it so rightfully warrants," stated the descendants of the first owners.

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

Modest Origins

The inception of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the initial owners bought a mountainous parcel of land in the at the time 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 famous individuals ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a white-collar house."

Design Feat

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

In November 1957, the Stahls interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to undertake the task. With assistance from the influential Case Study program, led by a key magazine editor, the owners received subsidies to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "was about experimentation" and "using new materials and erecting in locations that maybe earlier the techniques didn’t really allow," commented an authority from a city heritage organization. "Each of these factors are integrated into a site like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, contemporary and unthinkable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else thought, at the time, was not feasible."

Realization and Cultural Legacy

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

Soon after the build ended, a celebrated architectural photographer shot what is arguably the most well-known photograph of the home. Shot through the enormous glass windows, the photo depicts two women positioned in the home’s living room but seeming to hover over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I believe the enduring influence of the image is due to the way it conveys an concept about residing in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both urban and detached from it," commented a head of an architectural practice and adjunct professor at a prominent university.

Protected Recognition

The home has had historic features in film, TV and promos, including several well-known titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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

Next Stewardship

The home remains open for tours, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all appointments are currently reserved through February. In their announcement announcing the sale, the family said they would give "ample notice" before stopping the tours.

The listing for the home emphasizes finding a purchaser who will preserve the spirit of the space.

"For collectors of architecture, advocates of design, or organizations seeking to preserve an American masterpiece, there is simply no equal," the listing read. "This goes beyond a sale; it is a handover of custody – a quest for the next guardian who will respect the house’s past, value its original vision, and secure its conservation for posterity."

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

"I think any time a long-term steward, and a guardianship like this, is being sold of a property like this, it always causes a little bit of a hesitation – because you never know what the next owner, what their plans will be. And can they understand and appreciate the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"