🔗 Share this article

The famous Stahl house, a quintessential example of modernist architecture, is now available for the very first time in its whole history.

This suspended home, perched in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, hit the listings this recent week. The asking price stands at a notable $25 million.

Owners Choice to Part With

The Stahl family, who have owned the residence for its entire 65-year timeline, released a declaration regarding their decision to sell. They expressed that the dwelling had proven excessively demanding to maintain.

"This residence has been the core of our lives for decades, but as we’ve grown older, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain it with the attention and effort it so truly merits," commented the descendants of the initial owners.

They continued that the moment had arrived to find a new "custodian" for the house – "someone who not only recognizes its architectural importance but also comprehends its role in the cultural fabric of the city and further afield."

Modest Beginnings

The beginnings of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the first owners bought a sloped patch 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 "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "working-class family living in a white-collar house."

Construction Feat

The original design for the Stahl house was developed during the summer of 1956. However, many architects were initially hesitant to build it on the challenging hillside.

In November 1957, the family consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to take on the challenge. With support from the influential Case Study program, pioneered by a prominent magazine editor, the family received financial aid to commission Koenig.

The progressive program "was about trial and error" and "employing new building materials and building in places that maybe before the technology didn’t really permit," stated an expert from a city preservation society. "Each of these factors are combined into a site like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, progressive and inconceivable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else believed, at the time, was unbuildable."

Completion and Cultural Influence

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and construction began in May 1959. According to the owners, construction cost "just $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The final product was "a perfect representation of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the authority added.

Soon after the build ended, a renowned architectural photographer captured what is arguably the most well-known image of the home. Taken 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.

"I think the long-standing effect of the photograph is due to the way it communicates an idea about living in Los Angeles, an duality about being both urban and removed from it," stated a founder of an architectural firm and adjunct professor at a leading university.

Cultural Recognition

The home has enjoyed memorable appearances in film, broadcast and music videos, including several popular titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city designated the Stahl house a protected monument, and in 2013, the house was listed as a conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Next Ownership

The home is still open for public viewings, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all tours are currently fully booked through February. In their release announcing the sale, the family said they would give "sufficient warning" before ending the tours.

The sales details for the home stresses finding a purchaser who will conserve the spirit of the space.

"For collectors of architecture, supporters of architecture, or entities seeking to preserve an iconic work, there is simply no equal," the listing state. "This goes beyond a sale; it is a handover of custody – a hunt for the next guardian who will respect the house’s history, respect its design integrity, and secure its preservation for generations to come."

The specialist agreed that the decision of new owner would be a crucial one, given the home’s history.

"I think any time a original family, and a custodianship like this, is transferring hands of a home like this, it always gives us a little bit of a hesitation – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their plans will be. And will they grasp and value the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"