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The renowned Stahl house, a paragon of midcentury modern architecture, is now available for the very first time in its complete history.

This overhanging residence, perched in the Hollywood Hills area, was listed on the listings this week. The price tag stands at a notable $25 million.

Stewards Move to Sell

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the residence for its complete 65-year timeline, issued a announcement regarding their decision to sell. They stated that the house had proven too difficult to upkeep.

"This house has been the heart of our lives for a long time, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain it with the dedication and vigor it so truly merits," wrote the offspring of the initial owners.

They further stated that the period had come to find a new "custodian" for the house – "a person who not only recognizes its architectural importance but also grasps its role in the cultural landscape of the city and elsewhere."

Unassuming Beginnings

The inception of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the initial owners purchased a hilly parcel 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 emphasized that "nobody famous ever lived here," describing themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a luxury house."

Construction Undertaking

The first design for the Stahl house was developed during the summer months of 1956. However, many builders were originally wary to erect it on the difficult hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls met with architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to take on the challenge. With assistance from the prominent Case Study program, pioneered by a key magazine editor, the owners received financial aid to engage Koenig.

The modernist program "focused on trial and error" and "employing new building materials and erecting in sites that maybe previously the technology didn’t really permit," stated an expert from a regional heritage organization. "Each of these factors are wrapped up into a place like the Stahl house, which was innovative, contemporary and inconceivable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else considered, at the time, was unbuildable."

Completion and Iconic Legacy

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and work started in May 1959. According to the residents, construction totaled "a mere $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The final product was "an idealized version of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the expert added.

Soon after completion, a celebrated architectural photographer took what is possibly the most well-known picture of the home. Captured through the enormous glass windows, the image shows two women positioned in the home’s living room but looking to float over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I think the long-standing influence of that image is due to the way it expresses an notion about living in Los Angeles, an duality about being both in the city and removed from it," stated a head of an architectural firm and adjunct professor at a major university.

Cultural Status

The home has had memorable features in cinema, TV and promos, including several well-known titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city declared the Stahl house a protected monument, and in 2013, the house was listed as a preserved site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Next Stewardship

The home is still open for visits, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all tours are currently sold out through February. In their announcement concerning the sale, the family stated they would give "sufficient warning" before ending the tours.

The listing for the home stresses finding a buyer who will maintain the spirit of the space.

"For connoisseurs of architecture, advocates of architecture, or institutions seeking to safeguard an national treasure, there is simply no equal," the listing say. "This is not merely a transaction; it is a handover of custody – a quest for the next guardian who will respect the house’s past, appreciate its architectural purity, and secure its conservation for generations to come."

The authority affirmed that the choice of new owner would be a crucial one, given the home’s history.

"In my view any time a long-term steward, and a stewardship like this, is being sold of a residence like this, it always causes a little bit of a concern – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their plans will be. And can they grasp and value the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"