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The celebrated Stahl house, a paragon of mid-century modern architecture, is up for sale for the initial occasion in its whole history.

This cantilevered dwelling, situated in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, was listed on the listings this past week. The listing price stands at a substantial $25 million.

Family Move to Sell

The Stahl family, who have owned the home for its entire 65-year history, shared a declaration regarding their resolution to sell. They noted that the dwelling had proven too difficult to maintain.

"This home has been the center of our lives for many years, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become progressively harder to care for it with the care and effort it so richly deserves," wrote the offspring of the original owners.

They added that the moment had come to find a new "steward" for the house – "someone who not only recognizes its design legacy but also understands its place in the cultural fabric of the city and elsewhere."

Unassuming Beginnings

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

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a famous icon of the city, the family often pointed out that "no celebrities ever lived here," describing themselves as a "average family living in a luxury house."

Design Undertaking

The original design for the Stahl house was developed during the summer of 1956. However, many designers were initially wary to build it on the difficult hillside.

In November 1957, the family met with architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to undertake the project. With support from the influential Case Study program, led by a prominent magazine editor, the family received subsidies to commission Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on experimentation" and "employing new materials and constructing in sites that maybe before the techniques didn’t really allow," remarked an expert from a city conservancy. "All these elements are integrated into a site like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, contemporary and inconceivable in terms of how it was built on that location that everyone else considered, at the time, was not feasible."

Finalization and Cultural Influence

The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and building commenced in May 1959. According to the family, construction cost "a mere $37,500" and the home was move-in ready by May 1960. The result was "an idealized version of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the authority commented.

Soon after the build ended, a celebrated architectural photographer captured what is arguably the most famous photograph of the home. Taken through the full-length glass windows, the photograph shows two women sitting in the home’s living room but looking to float over the city skyline.

"In my opinion the lasting effect of this image is due to the way it expresses an notion about dwelling in Los Angeles, an contrast about being both metropolitan and removed from it," said a principal of an architectural company and lecturer at a major university.

Cultural Status

The home has enjoyed memorable appearances in cinema, broadcast and videos, including several well-known titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city declared the Stahl house a historic-cultural landmark, and in 2013, the house was added as a preserved site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Future Custodianship

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

The listing for the home emphasizes finding a buyer who will conserve the character of the space.

"For connoisseurs of architecture, patrons of design, or entities seeking to preserve an iconic work, there is simply no parallel," the listing read. "This is not merely a purchase; it is a handover of custody – a quest for the next steward who will respect the house’s history, value its architectural purity, and ensure its protection for generations to come."

The specialist affirmed that the choice of purchaser would be a critical one, given the home’s past.

"In my view any time a long-term steward, and a stewardship like this, is transferring hands of a residence like this, it always creates a little bit of a hesitation – because you cannot predict what the next owner, what their aims will be. And can they grasp and appreciate the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"