🔗 Share this article

The famous Stahl house, a paragon of midcentury modern architecture, is up for sale for the first time in its whole history.

This cantilevered residence, situated in the Hollywood Hills, hit the market this week. The asking price stands at a substantial $25 million.

Stewards Decision to Sell

The Stahl family, who have held title to the home for its complete 65-year timeline, released a announcement regarding their resolution to sell. They expressed that the house had grown too difficult to maintain.

"This home has been the heart of our lives for many years, but as we’ve grown older, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain it with the care and vigor it so rightfully warrants," commented the children of the original owners.

They added that the moment had emerged to find a new "steward" for the house – "an individual who not only recognizes its design legacy but also grasps its position in the cultural fabric of the city and elsewhere."

Unassuming Beginnings

The inception of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the initial owners bought a hilly plot of land in the at the time undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a well-known icon of the city, the residents often pointed out that "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "average family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Architectural Challenge

The first design for the Stahl house was created during the summer months of 1956. However, many architects were originally hesitant to construct it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the family consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to take on the task. With assistance from the influential Case Study program, pioneered by a prominent magazine editor, the Stahls received financial aid to engage Koenig.

The modernist program "was about innovation" and "using new resources and building in sites that maybe before the engineering didn’t really permit," remarked an expert from a regional conservancy. "All those things are integrated into a property like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, contemporary and inconceivable in terms of how it was erected on that plot that everyone else believed, at the time, was impossible to build."

Realization and Famous Impact

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and work started in May 1959. According to the owners, construction cost "a mere $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The final product was "the ultimate vision of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the expert added.

Soon after the build ended, a celebrated architectural photographer took what is possibly the most famous image of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photograph features two women seated in the home’s living room but appearing to hover over the Los Angeles skyline.

"In my opinion the lasting effect of that photo is due to the way it communicates an concept about dwelling in Los Angeles, an contrast about being both urban and removed from it," stated a principal of an architectural company and educator at a major university.

Cultural Designation

The home has enjoyed memorable features in movies, television and promos, including several well-known 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 added as a conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coming Custodianship

The home remains open for public viewings, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all tours are currently reserved through February. In their release announcing the sale, the family stated they would give "sufficient warning" before stopping the tours.

The listing for the home highlights finding a purchaser who will maintain the essence of the space.

"For enthusiasts of architecture, advocates of building, or institutions seeking to protect an American masterpiece, there is simply no parallel," the details say. "This goes beyond a purchase; it is a handover of custody – a search for the next guardian who will honor the house’s past, respect its architectural purity, and secure its preservation for future generations."

The expert affirmed that the choice of new owner would be a critical one, given the home’s legacy.

"I think any time a longtime owner, and a custodianship like this, is being sold of a residence like this, it always causes a little bit of a hesitation – because you never know what the next owner, what their aims will be. And do they understand and cherish the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"