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The famous Stahl house, a quintessential example of modernist architecture, is up for sale for the very first time in its complete history.

This suspended residence, situated in the Hollywood Hills area, appeared on the listings this recent week. The listing price stands at an impressive $25 million.

Stewards Choice to Part With

The Stahl family, who have held title to the property for its entire 65-year existence, shared a statement regarding their decision to sell. They expressed that the house had proven excessively demanding to maintain.

"This home has been the core of our lives for a long time, but as we’ve aged, it has become progressively harder to look after it with the attention and vigor it so rightfully warrants," wrote the offspring of the initial owners.

They continued that the time had emerged to find a new "guardian" for the house – "someone who not only values its design legacy but also grasps its position in the cultural landscape of the city and elsewhere."

Modest Inception

The origins of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the first owners bought a mountainous parcel of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills neighborhood for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a famous representation of the city, the owners often stressed that "nobody famous ever lived here," describing themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a white-collar house."

Construction Challenge

The original design for the Stahl house was conceived during the warm season of 1956. However, many architects were originally hesitant to construct it on the challenging hillside.

In November 1957, the owners met with architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to accept the task. With backing from the prominent Case Study program, spearheaded by a prominent magazine editor, the Stahls received support to commission Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on experimentation" and "employing new resources and erecting in locations that maybe earlier the engineering didn’t really enable," commented an expert from a local preservation society. "Each of these factors are wrapped up into a site like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, modern and inconceivable in terms of how it was erected on that location that everyone else considered, at the time, was not feasible."

Realization and Famous Impact

The Stahl house was designated Case Study house No. 22, and construction began in May 1959. According to the residents, construction cost "a mere $37,500" and the home was move-in ready by May 1960. The final product was "a perfect representation of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the specialist added.

Soon after completion, a celebrated architectural photographer captured what is possibly the most famous picture of the home. Taken through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the image features two women positioned in the home’s living room but seeming to hover over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I believe the long-standing effect of this photo is due to the way it communicates an idea about living in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both urban and separate from it," said a founder of an architectural firm and educator at a prominent university.

Cultural Recognition

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

Next Custodianship

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

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

"For collectors of design, supporters of design, or organizations seeking to safeguard an American masterpiece, there is simply no parallel," the listing read. "This is not merely a sale; it is a transfer of stewardship – a quest for the next custodian who will celebrate the house’s history, value its original vision, and secure its protection for generations to come."

The authority agreed that the choice of purchaser would be a critical one, given the home’s past.

"I think any time a longtime owner, and a custodianship like this, is changing ownership of a home like this, it always creates a little bit of a concern – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their plans will be. And do they grasp and value the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"