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

This suspended dwelling, perched in the Hollywood Hills area, was listed on the real estate market this recent week. The listing price stands at an impressive $25 million.

Owners Choice to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the property for its complete 65-year existence, released a statement regarding their choice to sell. They expressed that the house had become too difficult to care for.

"This home has been the core of our lives for decades, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become progressively harder to look after it with the care and energy it so rightfully warrants," stated the children of the first owners.

They continued that the period had emerged to find a new "steward" for the house – "a person who not only values its design legacy but also grasps its role in the cultural landscape of the city and further afield."

Modest Inception

The beginnings of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the original owners acquired a mountainous parcel of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house becoming a renowned symbol of the city, the residents often emphasized that "no celebrities ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "working-class family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Construction Challenge

The first design for the Stahl house was developed during the summer of 1956. However, many designers were originally reluctant to construct it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to undertake the challenge. With support from the influential Case Study program, led by a key magazine editor, the family received support to commission Koenig.

The contemporary program "was about experimentation" and "utilizing new building materials and constructing in sites that maybe previously the technology didn’t really allow," commented an expert from a local heritage organization. "All those things are combined into a site like the Stahl house, which was innovative, progressive and inconceivable in terms of how it was built on that location that everyone else believed, at the time, was unbuildable."

Completion and Iconic Influence

The Stahl house was designated Case Study house No. 22, and construction commenced in May 1959. According to the family, construction cost "only $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The result was "an idealized version of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the authority added.

Soon after completion, a renowned architectural photographer took what is possibly the most well-known image of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photograph shows two women seated in the home’s living room but appearing to float over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I believe the long-standing effect of that photo is due to the way it communicates an notion about residing in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both in the city and removed from it," stated a principal of an architectural firm and lecturer at a leading university.

Cultural Status

The home has had memorable cameos in movies, TV and promos, 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 conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coming Ownership

The home is still open for public viewings, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all slots are currently fully booked through February. In their announcement concerning the sale, the family said they would give "plenty of advance notice" before discontinuing the tours.

The sales details for the home highlights finding a new owner who will preserve the spirit of the space.

"For connoisseurs of style, advocates of building, or organizations seeking to preserve an iconic work, there is simply no equal," the listing say. "This is not merely a transaction; it is a passing of responsibility – a quest for the next custodian who will celebrate the house’s past, respect its architectural purity, and ensure its conservation for generations to come."

The specialist agreed that the choice of buyer would be a crucial one, given the home’s history.

"In my view any time a original family, and a guardianship like this, is transferring hands of a property like this, it always causes a little bit of a hesitation – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their plans will be. And do they grasp and appreciate the house, as in this unique case the Stahl family has?"