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The renowned Stahl house, a epitome of midcentury modern architecture, is up for sale for the very first time in its complete history.

This suspended home, situated in the Hollywood Hills, was listed on the listings this recent week. The asking price stands at an impressive $25 million.

Owners Choice to Part With

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the home for its full 65-year history, issued a statement regarding their resolution to sell. They noted that the property had grown excessively demanding to care for.

"This residence has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve grown older, it has become increasingly challenging to look after it with the care and energy it so rightfully warrants," stated the children of the original owners.

They further stated that the moment had arrived to find a new "steward" for the house – "someone who not only appreciates its architectural significance but also grasps its role in the cultural history of the city and beyond."

Unassuming Beginnings

The beginnings of the Stahl house go back to May 1954, when the first owners purchased a mountainous plot of land in the at the time undeveloped Hollywood Hills neighborhood for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a well-known icon of the city, the family often emphasized that "no celebrities ever lived here," characterizing themselves as a "average family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Architectural Undertaking

The initial design for the Stahl house was created during the summer of 1956. However, many builders were initially reluctant to build it on the challenging hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls met with architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to take on the challenge. With assistance from the notable Case Study program, pioneered by a prominent magazine editor, the owners received subsidies to commission Koenig.

The progressive program "focused on trial and error" and "employing new materials and constructing in places that maybe before the technology didn’t really enable," stated an expert from a city heritage organization. "All those things are combined into a site like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, progressive and unthinkable in terms of how it was erected on that site that everyone else believed, at the time, was not feasible."

Completion and Cultural Impact

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and work commenced in May 1959. According to the owners, construction amounted to "just $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The result was "an idealized version of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the expert commented.

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

"I think the enduring impact of the photograph is due to the way it expresses an concept about living in Los Angeles, an duality about being both urban and separate from it," commented a head of an architectural company and adjunct professor at a major university.

Protected Recognition

The home has enjoyed notable appearances in cinema, broadcast and videos, including several popular 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 listed as a preserved site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Future Ownership

The home continues to be open for tours, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all tours are currently fully booked through February. In their announcement announcing the sale, the family indicated they would give "sufficient warning" before discontinuing the tours.

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

"For collectors of style, advocates of architecture, or institutions seeking to protect an iconic work, there is simply nothing comparable," the listing say. "This is more than a purchase; it is a transfer of stewardship – a quest for the next steward who will honor the house’s past, appreciate its original vision, and ensure its conservation for posterity."

The expert concurred that the choice of buyer would be a crucial one, given the home’s past.

"I believe any time a long-term steward, and a custodianship like this, is being sold of a residence like this, it always causes a little bit of a pause – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their plans will be. And can they comprehend and cherish the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"