The famous Stahl house, a epitome of modernist architectural design, is now available for the first time in its whole history.
This overhanging home, nestled in the Hollywood Hills area, hit the listings this past week. The asking price stands at a substantial $25 million.
The Stahl family, who have held title to the residence for its complete 65-year history, issued a declaration regarding their decision to sell. They stated that the dwelling had proven excessively demanding to care for.
"This house has been the heart of our lives for many years, but as we’ve grown older, it has become more difficult to maintain it with the care and vigor it so truly merits," wrote the descendants of the first owners.
They added that the moment had arrived to find a new "steward" for the house – "a person who not only recognizes its design legacy but also comprehends its place in the cultural landscape of the city and further afield."
The origins of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the initial owners bought a hilly parcel of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills area for $13,500.
Despite the Stahl house becoming a well-known representation of the city, the residents often pointed out that "no celebrities ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "average family living in a architectural masterpiece."
The initial design for the Stahl house was conceived during the summer of 1956. However, many architects were initially wary to construct it on the precarious hillside.
In November 1957, the owners met with architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to undertake the project. With support from the prominent Case Study program, led by a key magazine editor, the family received financial aid to hire Koenig.
The modernist program "centered around innovation" and "employing new materials and building in locations that maybe earlier the technology didn’t really enable," stated an specialist from a city preservation society. "All those things are combined into a property like the Stahl house, which was innovative, progressive and inconceivable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else believed, at the time, was impossible to build."
The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and work started in May 1959. According to the residents, construction amounted to "only $37,500" and the home was move-in ready by May 1960. The result was "a perfect representation of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the expert noted.
Soon after the build ended, a celebrated architectural photographer took what is arguably the most iconic picture of the home. Taken through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photograph depicts two women sitting in the home’s living room but appearing to float over the Los Angeles skyline.
"In my opinion the enduring effect of this photograph is due to the way it expresses an concept about living in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both urban and removed from it," stated a head of an architectural practice and lecturer at a leading university.
The home has enjoyed notable features in cinema, TV and music videos, including several well-known 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 listed as a protected property on the National Register of Historic Places.
The home continues to be open for tours, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all slots are currently reserved through February. In their statement announcing the sale, the family stated they would give "sufficient warning" before stopping the tours.
The sales details for the home stresses finding a new owner who will maintain the essence of the space.
"For connoisseurs of architecture, supporters of building, or entities seeking to protect an iconic work, there is simply nothing comparable," the details read. "This is more than a sale; it is a passing of responsibility – a quest for the next custodian who will honor the house’s history, value its architectural purity, and secure its conservation for future generations."
The authority agreed that the selection of buyer would be a vital one, given the home’s past.
"In my view any time a longtime owner, and a custodianship like this, is changing ownership of a home like this, it always gives us a little bit of a concern – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their plans will be. And do they understand and value the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"
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