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The celebrated Stahl house, a epitome of modernist design, is up for sale for the initial occasion in its complete history.

This cantilevered home, nestled in the Hollywood Hills, appeared on the market this past week. The listing price stands at a substantial $25 million.

Owners Choice to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the property for its entire 65-year history, released a announcement regarding their resolution to sell. They noted that the house had proven excessively demanding to care for.

"This home has been the center of our lives for many years, but as we’ve aged, it has become more difficult to look after it with the care and effort it so rightfully warrants," wrote the children of the initial owners.

They further stated that the time had come to find a new "steward" for the house – "an individual who not only values its architectural significance but also comprehends its place in the cultural history of Los Angeles and further afield."

Modest Origins

The beginnings of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the initial owners purchased a hilly plot of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a well-known representation of the city, the owners often emphasized that "no famous individuals ever lived here," describing themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Architectural Feat

The first design for the Stahl house was created during the warm season of 1956. However, many builders were originally wary to build it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the owners met with architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to undertake the project. With backing from the influential Case Study program, spearheaded by a prominent magazine editor, the Stahls received subsidies to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on trial and error" and "employing new materials and building in places that maybe before the engineering didn’t really allow," remarked an expert from a regional heritage organization. "All these elements are integrated into a site like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, progressive and unthinkable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else thought, at the time, was impossible to build."

Completion and Cultural Legacy

The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and work started in May 1959. According to the residents, construction cost "only $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The outcome was "the ultimate vision of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the authority commented.

Soon after completion, a renowned architectural photographer shot what is perhaps the most iconic picture of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photo shows two women positioned in the home’s living room but seeming to float over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I think the enduring impact of this photograph is due to the way it communicates an idea about dwelling in Los Angeles, an contrast about being both urban and removed from it," stated a founder of an architectural firm and adjunct professor at a prominent university.

Protected Status

The home has made notable features in cinema, broadcast and promos, including several popular titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city recognized the Stahl house a historic-cultural landmark, and in 2013, the house was listed as a protected property on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coming Ownership

The home remains open for visits, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all tours are currently reserved through February. In their announcement announcing the sale, the family said they would give "plenty of advance notice" before stopping the tours.

The property description for the home stresses finding a buyer who will conserve the character of the space.

"For enthusiasts of architecture, advocates of design, or entities seeking to preserve an iconic work, there is simply nothing comparable," the description read. "This is not merely a sale; it is a passing of responsibility – a search for the next steward who will honor the house’s past, respect its architectural purity, and secure its preservation for posterity."

The specialist concurred that the choice of buyer would be a vital 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 concern – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their plans will be. And will they grasp and cherish the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"